Family Ties
by Zacnichols123
Summary: After taking time off from their mercenary work, Axel and Jack try to spend time with Jessabel. During the day Jessabel is kidnapped by Eggman and the pair of Mercenaries are forced into a tough situation but learn that there is more to what they know.
1. Chapter 1: A gun for hire

Family Ties Chapter 1

"I finally took that miserable runt's gunblade, he can't catch me now" said a Yagyu ninja running down the street's holding the blade.

All of a sudden two bullets went flying towards the Ninja narrowly missing him. He turned around and saw the person he stole it from standing on the roof top of the building behind him. After seeing him he began running faster but the gunslinger was standing there and smirked a bit before continuing to sprint across the roof tops running at the same speed that the thief was.

"How did he catch up to me so fast, that's not possible" the ninja said

He took the fastest route across the rooftops hoping to out run the attacker and succeeding his mission. He turned around and noticed he was no longer there

"What the hell, where did he go?" He asked himself out loud

"Evening, I believe you have something belonging to me" He said coming up alongside the thief before knocking him off the rooftop onto the path way.

The thief landed with ease and didn't lose his footing,

"Damn it, Jack where the hell are you!"

"Above you Axel" he replied

Axel looked up and saw Jack's jet ready to intervene

"Let me guess, you want to knock him off his feat?" Jack asked raising his eyebrow

"Yeah, but wait till we're in more open ground, don't want to end up destroying building and by the looks of it, he's heading towards the forest" Axel replied

As Jack raced ahead, Axel and the thief continued running through the city hoping to outrun Axel and take his prize with him. The Ninja threw some smoke bombs down to try and elude Axel but he managed to keep up at equal speed.

"You want to play dirty, fine let's play dirty" Axel said as he pulled out his revolvers again and began to open fire. Each hit came close but not close enough to cut him that he would leave a blood trail.

Axel looked around and noticed that the ninja was too busy focusing forward that he would see him coming from a different route. He jumped onto a wooden platform that took him to the rooftop on the left to the one that the ninja was on. To Axels luck it lead right on route to a joining of the roof top the ninja was on

'_Shame, was really looking forward to seeing Jack test that new toy of his out' _

As the rooftop was about to join Axel grabbed a skateboard left on the roof from someone earlier and quickly sped up on it using the downhill ramps left by other people. The thief was still focused on the front so Axel made sure to use that to his advantage.

"I guess he gave up" The Ninja said after not hearing Axel's footsteps behind him

"No I didn't!" He exclaimed as he kicked the skateboard hitting the Ninja head on, knocking him off his footing and face planting into the ground.

"I'll be taking that" Axel said grabbing the ninja's bag and pulling out his silver gunblade.

He flicked it around and shifted it into its gun state to make sure it still worked before putting it back in his sheath

"So, you got your item back now what are you going to do to me?" The Yagyu ninja asked

"Nothing, just get out of here and don't come back again" Axel said looking at him dead on

The ninja ran off and disappeared before Jack returned to Axel, landing his VTOL on the roof

"You couldn't let me have this one?" Jack said hoping out the jet

"I would've but then I remembered how crazy you went last time when we were on the Iceberg assignment!" Axel exclaimed

"What, we ended up getting the target and got bonus pay for wiping out the base" Jack replied

"Really, I was positive you destroyed a landmark in the process" Axel retorted while making his way to jet

"Fine" He sighed

"Also here are these back" Axel said as he threw the pair of revolvers back to Jack

"Thanks, I'm surprised you weren't even trying" Said Jack as he put them back in his holster

"Come on, let's head home, Jessabel is probably starting to get worried about us" said Axel

30 MINUTES LATER

"You two finally came home?" Jessabel asked as she was playing with her yo-yo on the couch

"Yeah, that thief was a little harder than expected" Axel replied as he sat down next to her and began to relax a bit

"Did you bring anything interesting back?" Jessabel asked

"Just my stuff and this skateboard" Axel replied as he yawned trying not to fall asleep

"I think I'll head back to bed, I'll see you guys in the morning" Jack said closing his door

It was just Axel and Jessabel sitting in the living room enjoying each other's company. They all shared a bit of the same background all growing up orphans, Jack first met Axel when he was only ten. Axel arrived at the orphanage after his parent's had a huge falling out completely forgetting about him and dumping him there to fend for himself. Jack had been there all of his life after being dropped off on the doorstep never knowing his true parent's or where he came from but helped Axel adjust to the life he was forced to live out with just each other to rely on for help.

That was until Jessabel came along several months later, she was five months when Axel found her alone while walking around the city one night. At first she was scared only being five months but gradually over time looked up to Axel as a brotherly figure and Axel saw this in her. He thought that she would be another problem that would go away over time but he grew towards her as well and felt a connection between them both before the event's that took place which resulted in the three of them running away and Axel and Jack becoming mercenaries to keep themselves a float.

"What's that damn beeping noise?" Axel asked himself waking up after falling asleep on the floor

He looked outside the window to see morning had finally broken over the city and that the glare from the sun was shining into his left eye making it hard for his eyes to adjust. Jessabel was still fast asleep on the couch, Axel figured he must've fallen off somewhere through the night. As he got up he rolled the sleeves on his jacket back up before stretching a bit trying to wake up.

"Your woke early" Jack said sitting in front of his computer monitor

"Well your damn computer kept beeping I'm surprised it hasn't woken Jessabel up" Axel replied

"Yeah sorry about that, I'm just running a few tests on the system" He explained rolling turn his chair to another monitor

"What's wrong?" Axel asked looking around at the other monitors

"Well I can't tell if something is jamming our messages, we haven't received any contracts from anyone and usually this is the time of year we get a lot of requests"

"You need me to do anything?" Axel asked

"Yeah, can you go on the roof and check if the receiver is damaged, the wind sometimes bumps a few cables loose" Jack replied restarting a few on the computers

"Anything specific?"

"Check if the electrical receivers or the transmitters are burnt out, there's a pair of them on the dining table if they need replaced" Jack instructed

"What do they look like again, we have a lot on the dining table" Axel asked looking at Jack's entire computer parts scattered on part of the table

"The red wires and little grey boxes" Jack replied

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Axel asked getting his gunblade from his room

"I dunno, just natural I guess" Jack replied looking running another system check

As Axel left to go to the roof he made sure he had everything he had before proceeding up the staircase on to the roof. As he walked out to the roof top the sun was still rising and shined brightly into his eyes but it didn't interfere with his sight that he couldn't see.

"Ok let's see here" Axel said to himself as he bent down towards one of the communications electrical box

As he opened it he noticed a strange smell coming from it as if something had been burning during the night. Axel pulled out his walkie talkie

"Hey Jack, would you know why the communicator's electrical box would smell like its burnt?" Axel asked

"Could've been caused by strong electrical feedback or a lighting strike it did storm a bit last night so that could've caused it" He replied

As Axel began replacing the parts he noticed a few things flying up in the air, he didn't pay much attention to it and just mainly focused on fixing the electrical box and nothing else. As the time went by he kept thinking of why he was still being a mercenary instead of settling down and helping Jessabel have a normal childhood unlike he had with all the fighting in his family, he was never harmed but usually had to endure the yelling and constant issues until they dropped him at the orphanage.

"Ok, that's all of them replaced" Axel said to himself as he shut the box and got up

"Jack did that fix it?" Axel asked of the Walkie Talkie

"No, damn it, why isn't this fixed"

"Did you try turning it off and on?" Axel replied with a bit of a joke in his tone as he made his way back to the apartment

As Axel went down the stairs he felt a bit un-easy and thought it could've been caused by the strong burning smell from earlier. He entered the apartment to see Jessabel was awake and was sitting there watching Jack going all over the place trying to fix the net work

"I see your up" Axel said to Jessabel leaning on the couches edge

"Yup, he's been going at this since you went up, I swear he does this too often" she replied

"Dude, seriously take a break it doesn't exactly matter if we miss one day" Axel suggested

"That's not what I'm worrying about anymore" Jack replied taking a look at a monitor

"What's wrong now?" Axel asked sitting down on the couch

"The network wasn't being ruined by the box being damaged, someone is causing it and it's most likely being caused by someone we've encountered before!" Jack exclaimed trying to back trace it

"Oh you are too kind" Said a voice coming from outside the window, just as they turned a giant fist came through the roof and grabbed Jessabel

"Jessabel!" Axel exclaimed jumping to grab the fist as it retracted

Jack followed and grabbed Axel's legs pulling them all to the roof before the pair of them were thrown off and landed on the roof. Axel got back up and drew his gunblade before opening a few rounds on the robot which was standing their holding Jessabel in a pod centred around its stomach

"Axel! Stop or you're going to hit Jessabel that may not be bullet proof casing!" Jack exclaimed

"I would listen to your partner" The man said as the dust cleared

"Eggman!" Axel exclaimed pointing the gun blade at him

"Oh now if you fire that thing at me, you can kiss your sister good bye into oblivion!" He exclaimed pulling up a detonator and holding it, forcing Axel to lower his weapon

"What do you want from us?" Axel asked trying to hold back the rage that was building up inside him

"I require your services to deal with a formidable enemy of mine and I heard your best in the business, my boss wanted to make sure it was you I hired" Eggman responded lowering the detonator

"Who's the target?" Jack asked

Eggmen threw a package at Jack and caught it, as he opened it they were both stunned to see who the target was

"Sonic the hedgehog?" Axel muttered under his breath

"Here's the deal, you kill the annoying the hedgehog and you get your sister back" Eggman said raising an eyebrow

"Axel?" Jack asked looking at him

"Fine, where is he?" Axel asked sliding the gunblade back into his sheath

"The forest outside of town, he's currently there figuring out what I'm up to, but I've set it up as a trap for you, go there now and take care of him or else your sister will never come back, farewell" Eggman instructed as he proceeded to fly upwards into a carrier ship and zoom off into the distance

"Do you really think we can kill him?" Jack asked prepping the VTOL hastily

"Were going to put on a show for eggman, he'll get what he wants all right" Axel smirked hoping in to the jet.


	2. Chapter 2: The Blue Bounty

FT Chapter 2: The Blue Bounty

"Axel, why did you get me to land us so far away from where Sonic is again?" Jack asked chopping down leaves in the path

"Well if we landed any closer Sonic would've ran, especially if he saw us coming" Axel replied looking at the map Eggman had left them to where Sonic was

As they kept walking the forest got harder and harder to get through with all the oversized leaves and trees. Axel was mainly reading the map and looking through what Eggman had left them in the package while Jack kept cutting down the leaves to clear a path when he came to a sudden halt.

"Why did I not bring the grappling hook this time" Jack said with a drawn out sigh

"What's wrong?" Axel asked

"A huge river, why is there a river of this size in a forest like this!" Jack exclaimed dropping the knife and rubbing his head in confusion

"I dunno, why not just use your rocket boot's to fly across" Axel asked looking for a way across

"I still haven't fixed them, haven't had the time" Jack replied quickly sitting down on the ground

"Really, we've had like months since our last mission and you still haven't fixed them!" Axel exclaimed in frustration as he decided to sit down as well

"If we were only more careful, we wouldn't be in this situation" Axel said furiously looking at the river trying to figure a way across

"It isn't your fault Jessabel has been kidnapped, he found us even with all of our systems down, once we get this done you'll see her again" Jack said trying to calm him down

"I wasn't talking about that" Axel said

"Then what were you talking about?" Jack asked puzzled

Axel drew his gunblade from his sheath and looked at it thinking of the past and what happened that un-fateful night

"You mean the orphanage?" Jack asked

"Yeah, how did that all happen, that one night and all of a sudden look where we are" Axel said in quiet tone

"It's still a puzzle to me as well but maybe it just happened because it did" Jack replied

"Maybe, but still I remember all my time there clearly, it's like it was only last week" Axel said looking up at the sky

"This isn't like you to be so bright" Jack said laughing a bit

"Yeah, I just want this to be over, settle down with you and Jessabel, live a little and just you know, put this behind us" Axel said looking back down at the river and its rushing waterways

"Would be nice to settle down a bit, travel a bit in a more casual way instead of going out and trying to pop a few heads" Jack replied

All of a sudden Jack felt a vibration coming from one of his Jacket's pockets, it was his communicator and it seemed someone was calling it

"Axel, I think this may be for you" Jack said throwing it to him

As Axel answered it and a voice he knew all too well came on

"How's the hunt going?" Eggman asked in a sly tone

"We've hit a road block and we can't exactly get past it" Axel replied

"Well get past it, remember your darling sister is on the line here!" Eggman exclaimed in a furious tone before hanging up

"God damn it, I hate working for this guy" Axel said

"Want me to put him down as a target to hit in the future?" Jack asked pulling out his notepad

"Please" Axel said as he stood back up

"Come on, we better figure out a way across"

"Better than sitting here I guess" Jack shrugged as he got as well

The pair of them continued walking along the side of the river looking for a sign of some way to cross it. Step after step they still couldn't find a way across and it seemed that the rushing waters went on for ages with no end of it insight. Axel became frustrated and kicked a tree in frustration but ended up hurting his right foot in the process

"You know, for a guy who's good with a gun you sure don't know crap about nature" Jack said walking past Axel while he hopped on his left foot

Jack suddenly came to a stop and looked back down and up at the other end of the River. He noticed something about the tree on the other side

"I think I might've just figured out a way across" Jack said as he pulled out a grenade from his pocket and a rope from the other

"You're not going to do what I think you're about to do" Axel said watching as Jack drew his arm back

Jack swung his arm around a few times before throwing it forward and sent the grenade flying to the other end. The grenade stuck to the tree and began to flicker a green light ever few seconds. Jack pulled out a detonator from his pocket vest

"You want to blow it up?" Jack asked putting the detonator in front of Axel

Axel hastily took the detonator from Jack's hand before pressing the detonation button. As the detonation went off the tree begun to fall over on to the side Axel and Jack were on. They both quickly dodged the tree by going left and right before it landed.

"Why didn't I think of this earlier" Jack said

"Let's just get moving" Axel said jumping up and began walking across carefully across making sure not to slip

Jack followed a moment later and noticed how fast the water was moving underneath his feat and wondered if the log would hold. As Axel proceeded to cut down a path through the forest, Jack was too busy looking at the map this time to notice where he was going and at one point strayed from the path and Axel was forced to grab him and turn him around.

"Hmm, this looks interesting" Axel said as bent down

"What is it?" Jack asked stopping

"A shoe print, looks like Sonic is around here, can you hand me the map?" Axel asked putting his hand out while looking at the shoe print. Jack passed the map to Axel

As Axel compared the direction of the footprint and where on the map Eggman said Sonic was going to be, he noticed that he was headed in the right direction. Axel drew his gun blade and switched into its gun form

"He's up ahead" Axel smirked

"So how do you want to handle this?" Jack asked

"Sonics main element is speed, now this area is full of branches and tree's which he can use to his advantage to jump around and strike us around from the back, but so can we" Axel said pulling out two magazines from his Jacket

"So what, you want to set them up as a trap or something? Jack asked putting the map in his pocket and pulling out his

"Yeah, I need you to get on top of them and then set up a few shock pellets, that way he won't be able to use them" Axel replied putting the magazine's in his gunblade, one of the bottom and one on the top before the blade split into two guns.

"Since when could Silvertooth do that?" Jack asked climbing up a tree

"I'll tell you later, now get a move on we don't have much time" Axel replied making his way towards Sonic's location

Axel's POV

As I made my way though the shrubs and bushes I kept making sure that Sonic didn't here as giving away my position would evidently end up with Sonic getting away and I can't afford that, not with Jessabel's life on the line this time. Sonic might be fast but I've got a surprise for him.

"Axel I've got my eyes on Sonic keep heading north, but he seems to have company with him" Jack said

"What, who's with him?" I asked still sprinting through the grass making my way north to him

"I dunno, they haven't said their names yet" he replied as I came to a halt after I saw Sonic was up ahead

"I see them Jack" I said

As I approached Sonic, I decided it would be best if I stayed back a bit so I could find out a bit more about the un-invited guests

"I wonder what Tails is up to?" Sonic asked himself out loud

"You can ask him when we get back" A female voice replied, obviously someone else was with him

"I know Sally, I'm just curious"

"Well could you stop day dreaming and help me and Bunnie out?" Sally asked in a grumpy tone

"Fine, what is it we're looking for again?" Sonic replied

Obviously Eggman's plan isn't going to be as easy I first thought it would be, epically with these two around. Now Jack and I have to think of a new way to approach this.

"Seems like we've hit a bit of a brick wall here" Jack said over the com

"Yeah, we can't use our previous plan" I replied

"Not wrong there, I'm curious to know who fitted out the cybernetics on Bunnie" Jack replied

"Yeah, those look like they can pack a punch, how did you figure out her name?"

"Sally, she mentioned that earlier"

Looking at the situation now, it just seemed like a good idea to rush in and confuse them, but then that's going to make it difficult to get away in time. Maybe if I picked them off one by one, no Sonic would make a runner before I could hit him. Great, looks like I'm going to have to use the only tactic that doesn't involve me thinking

"Have you got any smoke bombs or flash bangs on you Jack?"

"No, I thought we were going to be dealing with just one target"

"Great, I guess we're just going to have to resort to plan B"

"Ah plan B, what's plan B again Axel?"

"Simple, we rush in, take Sonic out and then ditch this place" I replied

As I got up I made sure to move quickly so that the trio of them had little chance of seeing me move around. As I moved closer I made sure to hide behind trees and use the cover to my advantage. I was only a few steps away after moving around for a few minutes and I proceeded to put Silvertooth back into its normal form.

"Jack, on my mark get ready to spring them"

"Ready when you are" He replied

I switched Silvertooth into its gun state and aimed down the sights at Sonic, as I proceeded to pull the trigger I heard something coming up from behind me which made me freeze half way. Before I knew it I was thrown out into the open in front of Sonic and his friends, I quickly regained my posture before pointing the gun at him.

"Don't even think about it, you're out-numbered four to one" Sally said

"Jack, where the hell are you" I muttered

All of a sudden Jack jumped out the tree and proceeded to throw down some shock pellets causing them to move back

"You should've told me you had some of those" I retorted

"Funny, looks like you were finally introduced to Knuckles" Jack said

"How do you know his name?" I asked

"Background research in my free time, I'll explain later"

As the field went down Bunnie aimed her hand at us which in fact was a cannon, she opened fire but Jack and I both dodged it before I sprinted forward trying to hit Sonic. His damn speed makes it nearly impossible to hit him, each attack I throw at him he just dodges without a care in the world as if it's nothing to him.

"Stay still damn it!" I exclaimed as each round I fired whizzed past him

Jack seemed to have his hands full with Sally and Bunnie while I was stuck with Knuckles and Sonic. Knuckles attacks were easy to block but Sonic keeps spin balling at me which is throwing me off balance. I eventually got my footing back and rebounded Sonic's spinball throwing him face first into a tree, before I could take the shot at Sonic I noticed that Jack was being over whelmed by Bunnie and Sally but also Knuckles had joined in on the fight

"Axel, finish him off already so we can get out here!" Jack exclaimed, he was being backed into a corner but was holding his ground

Before I could take the shot I witnessed Jack being hit by Bunnies hand cannon and knocked out, eventually they turned their attention to me, the barrel was aiming down at Sonic's head but I was hesitating to pull the trigger and I couldn't figure out why. Looking at my odd's I decided it's best to pull out leaving Jack behind but using that to my advantaged, I quickly sprinted off into the forest towards the Jet but surprisingly I wasn't being followed , I guess capturing Jack was more important to them than catching the person who just tried to take a life.

"You better hope this plan C will work, they're taking me back to where ever they came from" I heard Jack whisper over the com

"It will, I'll see you in a bit" I replied hoping into the Jet, thankfully Jack gave me a few flying lessons a while back I'm just glad I didn't crash the jet back then.


	3. Chapter 3: Breaking Out

FT Chapter 3

Axel's POV

"Jack, have you been taken into their base yet?" I asked landing the Jet on the roof

"Yeah, but they've lock me up and I can't do much from where I am so you're going to have find some way of getting in" he replied as I jumped out of the cockpit

"You've still got the tracker beacon on you I presume?"

"Yup, these guys didn't bother to search my pockets" Jack replied laughing quietly

I hurried through the door and down the apartment stairs, each step felt as if time was against me since I highly doubt Eggman will keep Jessabel normal or perhaps even alive. I've seen his work and what he's done in the past is ugly work, if he keeps this up he's going to find much more than just a simple pick up and collect, he'll have more coming. I hope Jack's installed the AI he said he was going to, god knows what he's been putting off

"Umm, Computer or whatever you're called, turn on?" I asked in confusion

"Welcome back Axel, how may I be of assistance to you" A voice said, glad that's working now

"Access Jack's tracker beacon" I instructed as I proceeded to sit down in the computer chair

"Tracking beacon active, location New Mobotropolis"

"Information limited, only residential and active parties are on record along with several titles given to the city"

"Give me what you've got on Active parties" I sighed, this search is going to be limited judging by what's stored on here

"Active parties: The council of Acorn and The Freedom Fighters"

"Give me information on the freedom fighters" I replied, perhaps something of use might be in the files Jack has stored on here

"Accessing"

I laid back a bit as I knew this was going to be a really long list people to look at and pick off one by one,

"List contains over the maximum amount of people my programming allows me to speak, displaying profiles on main monitors"

I watched as the names of the profiles appeared on the screens Jack had set up, it did seem he has had a lot of time to build up this database, the information isn't exactly pin-point but it's enough to give me a detail view on what I'm dealing with.

"Access information on Sally Acorn" I said

"Acorn, Sally, Princess to the kingdom of Acorn now known as the Republic of Acorn and Leader of the freedom fighters"

Looking through the list her and her group of friends had achieved a lot in the time I've been hearing about them but still this is only on the leader. I strolled through the rest of the info stored on the system and it seemed as if it looks like I was dealing with the whole situation of a much larger group located inside the city.

"Computer, Access information on Freedom HQ"

"Accessing schematics please wait a moment... Schematics unavailable, Freedom HQ has since been abandoned and now serves as a decoy, Freedom Fighters are currently located within New Mobotropolis"

Wonderful looks like they've moved places better study up on what I can learn so I can and infiltrate this place

"Computer, give me all the information on New Mobotropolis you can get" I sighed

This is gonna be a long night

Jack's POV

Well at least the room is better than what I thought it was going to be, looks like they threw me in a medium security cell, typical when they're dealing with people who only know how to use fists

"Now, don't you go running off" Bunnie exclaimed at me

"I'm locked up in a cell, where am I going to go, the roof" I retorted making her walk away in frustration

I gotta admit the castle has some nice design to it, better than being thrown into the prison with god knows who.

"Jack, have you been taken into their base yet?" finally Axel say's something

"Yeah, but they've lock me up and I can't do much from where I am so you're going to have find some way of getting in"

"You've still got the tracker beacon on you I presume?" He asked me, I could tell there was frustration in his voice

"Yup, these guys didn't bother to search my pockets" I replied jokingly

Sitting here I looked outside the cell bars and noticed that no one was guarding the area around me, perfect time to test out my new key picker, I took it out of my pocket and turned it and left the robot to do its work while I watched out for anyone who might come by. Just then I heard a slight click from the lock but at the same time some guards were starting to come down the hall way

"I heard that Scourge guy broke out of the prison other day"

"Again, but how?"

"No one knows, the only evidence they found was a strange tar like substance"

"Someone rammed the wall again most likely"

Finally they're gone, I opened the door silently as not to give away that I was leaving, I looked around the room and noticed some vents above the cell I just exited, thankfully it wasn't too high so I was able to reach it with a few jumps. I pulled off the vents grating before jumping in to it

"Axel, you there?" I asked through the com but all I got was static, something in the vents must be distorting the signal from the inside

"NICOLE, you got any information on our unexpected guest?" I could hear Sonic's voice further down the vent, I must be close to their meeting room

"I have plenty of information about him for you, Sonic" I heard her say

Eventually I managed to reach a grating which let me see inside their meeting room, now to sit back and watch the show go on

"So let's hear it then" Sally said

"I was comparing Eggman activity-"

"Wait, How does Eggman even fit into this?" Sonic interrupted but then yelled as I saw NICOLE give him an electric shot

"Let me finish, anyway where was I oh yes, it coincides with increased telecommunication between Eggman and at least four if not five other individuals"

"So what, you think Eggman hired the guys who attacked us to try and assassinate us?" Sonic asked

"No, I was going through footage of Metal City's security since that's where Eggman last had contact with the other people and I found this on one of the camera's" NICOLE then projected an image with her hand

It was showing what happened with Axel, Jessabel and I, him coming down with his robotic guard and taking her out of the blue

"So, they're doing this because he's got a girl?" Sally asked

"Not just any girl, I managed to locate a microphone right next to where it happened, listen to what he said"

""Here's the deal, you kill the annoying the hedgehog and you get your sister back" Those words, still dark and twisted as ever

"Take the sister and get her brother's to do the work for him, that's a new low for Eggman!" Sally exclaimed

"It is!" I exclaimed kicking off the grating and hoping out the vent

"How did you get out, I recall locking you in personally?" Bunnie exclaimed aiming her cannon at me

"Calm down, word of advice get a digital lock system or something, a key isn't exactly going to cut it these days" I retorted

"Bunnie, put the cannon down, I think the video speaks for its self" Sally said

"So, Eggman seems to getting more dirty by the day" Sonic said

"Yeah, We've been trying to figure out a way to get directly to him, we know he has the Egg fleet but Axel is gunning for killing method, by the way sorry about earlier" I replied

"No hard feelings" he replied patting me on the back

"Thanks, If I can just get through to-"Just then something blasted the door open and Axel appeared running straight at Sonic

"Axel wait!" I exclaimed but he pulled the trigger and saw two bullets fly and hit Sonic

Normal POV

Axel was standing their breathing heavily after what he just did

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Jack yelled in anger

"I believe I am" Axel replied rubbing his forehead

"YOU JUST CRASHED MY JET AS WELL, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THAT TOOK TO BUILD!" He continued yelling

"I landed so that only the front would be damaged and that the rest of the jet would re-main intact, I managed to transfer the new AI onto it as well" He explained walking over to where Sonic is laying

"Boy, my chest hurts" Sonic moaned as he stood up

"You... Didn't kill him?" Sally asked in confusion

"No, You see the a round's Eggman asked me to use to specifically kill Sonic with had impact jell in them so, I used an old trick and managed to siphon the jell from the bullet into a paint ball round" Axel explained helping Sonic up

"So, what this is now plan D?" Jack asked in confusion

"Yes, now we just need to wait for Eggman to call us with his location" Axel said leaning against the wall

"I don't mean to interrupt but I think you guys may want to hear this" NICOLE said rubbing her hand

"What is it?" Sally asked

"Eggman has just connected to another session with the people I mentioned earlier, I can try and get it through to us so we can hear it but there may be some interference due to the signals output"

"Do it" Axel said

"Very well, patching it through"

As NICOLE began typing a way on the holographic keyboard audio began to play around the room

"Eggman, what is the status on the device" A deep toned man said

"Near completion, I've just received confirmation that the hedgehog has been dealt with, we can now accelerate with the plan" Eggman said gloating about it

"Excellent, Scourge what is the status on the Destructix?" The deep toned man asked again

"I've only been able to find Fiona, but we're closing in on Drago and Lynx, the rest have gone underground, but we'll find them" Scourge replied

"Good, you know who to report to on any other updates regarding your group, Kuku what's the status on the Armada?"

"Our fleets at %75 readiness but our scouts are ready to begin at your command"

"Excellent, Gentlemen I am pleased with your progress, any further updates let me know, Mogul out"

"Mogul?" Axel said to him self

"Seems like something big is coming if Mogul is teaming up with other parties" Sally said

"You guys will like what I'm about tell you" NICOLE said appearing in the middle of the group

"What is it?" Jack asked

"Eggman forgot to encrypt his part of the transmission thus I was able to locate his position"

"Stupid doctor never learns" Sonic said rubbing his nose

"His fleet is currently patrolling over the Ocean north of Metal City; it seems through that he has some BBA units protecting it as well" NICOLE explained

"Jack, how long do you need to fix your jet?" Axel asked

"At least the night maybe even some of tomorrow, I'm just glad it wasn't destroyed beyond repair" Jack sighed

"Tail's would be able to help you fix it, little guy has a strong knack for that sorta stuff, I'll go get him" Sonic said zipping off

Axel looked around and noticed most of the damage caused by the Jet had already been repaired and as if nothing had happened

"Where did all the rubble go?" He asked himself out loud

"The city is constructed by nanites, which generally allows me to repair everything, hence why you'll find the Jet you crashed now outside" NICOLE explained

"So, you're like an AI?" Jack asked

"Somewhat yes" she replied

The trio peered out the window and saw that Sonic and Tails were coming up the walk way and proceeded to meet them outside

"I see you finished fixing things up" Sonic said coming to a halt

"Yeah, I left a good portion of space so you guys can fix up the Jet" NICOLE replied back giving a little smile

"Why don't you join us, three hands could always help speed up the process?" Tails asked

"I would but Sally needs me to help her with a few things, I'll come back later" NICOLE replied as she headed off

"Alright, hey Axel... Where did he go" Jack said looking around but Axel was nowhere to be seen

"Must've gone for a look around or something I guess" Tails said grabbing out a wrench from his toolkit

Axel's POV

I couldn't help shake this feeling that I somewhat knew this Mogul person, the name rings a bell but yet I still don't know how I could possibly know him, former client perhaps, no I usually remember past clients, a target, no, I haven't targeted anyone in ages apart from today. But now knowing that Jessabel's life is at even greater risk because of all this makes me feel as if I'm the one to blame for all of this.

"Jack, what's the status on the jet?" I asked

"It's not going to be ready until tomorrow most likely; you might as well come back here whenever you're ready"

"Alright" I sighed

I'm making sure Eggman gets what's coming to him, defiantly after this and using me as a way of trying to make his twisted deed even more twisted and these other people as well, Scourge and Kuku, it seems as if he has a whole alliance set up with these people. I might as well get some rest and worry about this all later, I'm looking forward to blowing the Egg fleet sky high.


	4. Chapter 4: Racing around

FT CHAPTER 4

Axel was casually strolling around the city getting to know it a bit before him and Jack headed off to the Egg fleet. He managed to shake the feeling of what he had last night and decided to forget about it and focus on today and what was at stake.

"Jack how's the Jet coming along, it's getting nearly midday and want to be out of here by night fall?" Axel itching to get along

"Give me at least two more hours, tail's and NICOLE are helping me install the final upgrades and after that we'll be ready to go" Jack replied

"Alright then, you know how to reach me" Axel sighed in frustration

Axel's POV

I recall Jack saying this was only going to take the night and not this long, but then I suppose I am to blame for smashing it through a wall after all, still it was totally worth it as we got Eggman's true location after he sent me a false one last night. I'm curious to know what we'll find up there, hopefully Jessabel is still her normal self and Eggman hasn't done any of his experiments on her, all of these mentions about turning people into robots or as he calls it, roboticization.

"I see you're still looking around the city" I heard Sonic say

"Yeah, it's very impressive"

"Well when you leave it with NICOLE she knows how to take of it" He replied

"She appears to know what's what" I replied

"Say, do you perhaps know how to rail grind?" Sonic asked me

"Perhaps, why do you ask?" I replied turning around to look at him

"Well, the egg fleet has a lot of rails scattered around it that you would find very useful" Sonic said

"And I suppose these rails would somewhat prove efficient in getting around" I replied grinning

"Exactly" he said smirking as well

"Let me guess Sonic, you want me to set up a few rails around the city?" NICOLE asked appearing out of thing air

"Yeah, let's see how good your grinding skills are Axel" Sonic said to me grinning

"Alright, you're on"

"Give me a moment to bring up some extra rails" NICOLE said

"First one back to the Castle wins" Sonic said as he started to make his way onto a rail

"Alright, you're on hedgehog" I grinned as I followed after him

Jack's POV

"So, that's the twin engine's, tires, fixed and all that's left is the weaponry to patch up" I told Tails rubbing my forehead

"Yeah, we really need NICOLE to help us with this one, speaking of which where did she go?" Tails asked him self

"Hmm, Well I suppose she dose run the city, she'll be back in a few minutes I guess" I replied to him getting to work on the missiles and main gun

Man, I'm so tired that I could just crash onto the ground and not even care where I fell asleep and fixing the jet has kept me up all night so we can head off before it gets too dark, but we may have to hold off till tomorrow, I won't be able to concentrate well enough until I have a good night's rest

"I see you two are hard at work" NICOLE said as she appeared again

"We're trying to get all the main guns fixed but they're taking a while, we could really use your help" Tails explained to NICOLE

"I'll see what I can do to help, Sonic and Axel are having a grind rail race" she replied

"Really, where are they racing to?" I asked while tuning the GPS

"They're racing to here so I'm trying to maintain the rails so there isn't an accident" she replied

"Alright, let's see if these new thrusters are still working" I said turning them on

The immediate roar of the engine kicked in after turning them on, I could feel the vibration of the engine going through my seat and it felt just right. Not too bouncy or too rough but just right, I turned them off after letting them run for a few more seconds

"Well, those are certainly working" Tails said grabbing his clip board and ticking off thrusters

"Ok, so that just leaves the main guns and missiles to test" I stated

"NICOLE, I don't suppose you could whip up some targets?" Tails asked

"I suppose I could" She replied giggling

"What's so funny?" I asked switching everything on the jet to ready

"Nothing, here you go, I've set up some flying targets for you test out your weaponry, now if you excuse me I have to go help Sally with a few things" she replied disappearing

"Alright, let's see what these bad boys can do" I told Tails flicking the turbine switch

"I'll be down here tracking everything on the computer to make sure all systems are good while you fly around" He explained to me as I closed the cockpit

"Alright" I replied through the radio as I took off into the sky

Let's see here, all systems are green and everything seems to be responding well to the usual flight patterns, I do need to make a tweak or two on the thrusters to improve their stability. I looked down out of the cockpit screen and could see Axel and Sonic going at their rail grind race, it's rather amusing to see these two go at each other but then I suppose this would be good for Axel as he has been through a lot lately.

"Jack, is everything going ok with flying?" Tails asked over the radio

"Yeah, it's going smooth, I'm just about to test out the new guns" I replied putting my finger on the firing button

The heads up screen display was showing me the cross hairs and was telling me that no targets were locked, that's obvious you stupid machine

"Multiple targets detected, activating lock on targeting" I heard the AI's voice say

Alright, let's see what these bad boys can do, I turned the Jet in the direction of one of the targets NICOLE had set up for me to practice with and also to make sure I could get a solid lock on

"Two hostiles detected ahead, targets locked and primed awaiting firing command" The AI said as I pressed the firing button

"Missiles Away!" I exclaimed as two of them came flying out of both wings

The missiles hit the target and worked exactly as they were meant to

"Tails, those missiles pack a hell of a punch" I said making my way to the air field

"I saw the explosion from the castle and it was really bright, I'll meet you at the air field, better there than the castle again" Tails replied

"Alright see you there" I said turning the jet to the left

Normal POV

Axel and Sonic were just arriving back at the castle after their rail grind race and the pair of them were bantering each other claiming they had done one up with the other. Jack was just coming into land at the air field were Tails was waiting in the hanger

"So, did it all go well?" Tails asked

"It went perfect, the thrusters may need a little tweak but it isn't anything major" Jack replied grinning as he jumped out of the cockpit

"I see you two had fun" Axel said with a grin coming into the hanger

"Yeah, the jet's ready but we need to time our attack, preferably late at night or else we'll be walking into a death sentence" Jack explained leaning against the wheel

"Alright, I guess you could use the rest as well, you've been up for two nights straight" Axel replied

"How was your grind rail race?" Jack asked following Axel and Tails back up to the castle

"It went well" Axel replied grinning

"That's it?" Jack asked

Axel replied with just a grin, just as Jack was about to open his mouth Sonic suddenly came speeding down the path at them

"You guys need to get back to the castle quickly!" He exclaimed

"Why what's wrong?" Tails asked

"It's Mogul he's begun another session with Scourge this time" Sonic exclaimed as he grabbed Jack and Axel's arm before sprinting towards the castles main entry still holding Axel and Jack by the wrist and proceeding to smash open the doors and throwing the pair forwards into the ground

"Oh, I see you brought them here in a hurry" Sally said looking down on the two

"I'm patching it through now" NICOLE said as Axel and Jack stood back up

"Scourge, I need you to do something after we get the device from Eggman" Mogul said, his deep tone voice echoing through the room

"What do you need boss man?" Scourge asked

"Make sure you take the girl from the main ship that Eggman is located on, I have my personal guard on board taking care of her and she is not to be harmed Scourge!" Mogul exclaimed

"Alright, I'll make sure nothing happens to her, anything else?" He sighed

"No, I've already organized the rest of the plan, you will receive any future instructions from my apprentice, and you will be under his command unless I say otherwise, Mogul out"

"Boy what are party pooper, alright Fiona let's go" Scourge said before the com line went dead

"Alright, we need to leave now; I'm not letting Scourge or Mogul getting their hands on Jessabel!" Axel exclaimed

"Trust me, he won't" Jack replied looking at Axel

"Before you guys go there is something you need to know" NICOLE said

"What is it?" Axel asked

"G.U.N is currently engaged with the Egg fleet, it's going to be extremely difficult to get in their without having both G.U.N and the Egg fleet firing at you" She explained

"Tail's and I fitted a few extra gizmo's into the jet while we were fixing it and believe me it's going to be hard for them to get a shot at us" Jack explained winking at Tails as he winked at Jack

Axel stormed out followed by Jack; the pair of them ran for the air field as quick as they could so they would have a chance at getting to the Egg fleet before Scourge did

"You better hope your new gizmo's work!" Axel exclaimed at Jack whilst getting in the gunner's seat

"Trust me they will and we will get Jessabel back, you can count on it!" Jack exclaimed turning on the jet's engine and thrusters

"How far is it from here to the fleet?" Axel asked looking out the window as they took off

"At least an hour maybe an hour and half max" Jack replied switching to the auto pilot before falling asleep

"Alright, let's hope we get there before Scourge does" Axel sighed


	5. Chapter 5: Attack the fleet

FT Chapter 5

"Face it Eggman, its game over for you!" Axel exclaimed pointing Silvertooth in its gun state at Eggman's head

"No, it's quite the opposite you idiotic bandicoot!" Eggman exclaimed pressing a red button and launching out his newest robotic creation

"Now, prepare to face my latest creation the Egg Destroyer, It'll be the last fight you ever take part in!" Eggman exclaimed pushing buttons all over his pod's interface

Axel dodged it's on coming missile attack but not before being caught up in the explosion and being flung against the wall and being knocked out cold. The force of the impact created a deep gash across the side of his head before blood began to pour down the side of his cheek

"Any last words you pathetic bandicoot!" Eggman exclaimed knowing he was unconscious

"I guess not" Eggman grinned as he clicked open his hatch and got out of his pod personally with a gun in hand to complete the deed

"Haha, Farewell" Eggman grinned aiming the gun at Axel's head

SEVERAL HOURS EARILER

"Boy, how did we end up in this mess?" Jack asked getting out of the jet

"I don't know, just be grateful that we landed in un-detected and that the jet is still in once piece" Axel sighed looking around for an entry in side

"Yeah, that new shielding modification worked like a wonder, I have to remember to thank NICOLE for that" he said

The pair of them had just narrowly been shot down in a full on assault by both G.U.N and Egg fleet air cruisers and jet attackers. The amount of AA fire hit one of their engines and forced them to land in one of the Egg fleet's hangers where Jack would be able to quickly fix the engine before they could take off again

"The question is though, which ship are we on?" Jack asked looking around for a tool box

"Judging by what coordinates NICOLE gave us; we're approximantly one ship away from Eggman's main one, damn it!" Axel exclaimed

"You seem certainly tense" Jack replied jokingly

"Yes, because Scourge will be here soon to get Jessabel so yes, I am tense!" Axel exclaimed again this time shooting one of Eggman's offline egg-bots

"Feeling better now?" Jack asked grinning

"A little" He sighed before an alarm went off

"Warning, Intruders detected in the lower hanger bay, all units proceed at once to eliminate hostiles"

"Crap, so long for being un-detected!" Jack exclaimed hastily working on the Jet's engine

"Alright change of plans, you stay here and get that thing fixed, I'll deal with the egg-bots" Axel instructed before heading to the exit

"Ok, I'll meet you with the jet at Eggman's ship, both of our trackers are active so the GPS will be able to detect you" Jack explained

"I'll see you then" Axel said opening the door into the hall way

"Wait, I also have Jessabel's active take my spare scanner and find her, I'll make sure to grab her when I arrive" Jack explained this time throwing his scanner at Axel before he caught it

"Alright, be quick through, I have a gut feeling that G.U.N will blow this place apart very soon!" Axel exclaimed before shutting the door behind him

Axel's POV

I was too busy focusing on getting to Jessabel that I completely ignored my surroundings and before I knew it groups of egg-bots were launching all sorts of attacks at me. I managed to dodge them but decided not to engage them since only more would come and I would be over whelmed within a matter of minutes and eventually run out of time before I could beat Scourge to Jessabel. The entire construct of this ship is confusing; I don't see how anyone hasn't gotten lost down here.

"All units, the hostile has made his way to the cabin quarters, seal off the area and box him, make sure he doesn't escape!" This time Eggman's voice came on over the loud speaker, I guess he wanted to issue orders directly this time, especially with this device him and Mogul were speaking of, it can only mean trouble.

"Jack what's the status of the jet?" I asked looking for a spot to hide in so the egg-bots would walk right past me

"It's going ok, I had some un-wanted company before but I managed to get them off my back, just focus on getting to Eggman, don't worry about me, I'll be fine" he replied over the com, he was breathing deeply which meant someone must've found him

I managed to find an empty room and quickly ran in before shutting the door; I laid back for a moment and made sure not to make a sound. I could hear the bots run pass the room without even checking it. I guess they were too busy looking for me that anything with a closed door looked like a wall.

"Target has disappeared, resuming normal search pattern" I could hear one of them say outside the door

I looked around for a quick escape and route, the vents were too small for me to fit through and going out the front would pretty much be a death sentence. Come on Axel think, you've been in tighter situations before, this is nothing compared to what's happened in the past. Bingo, A window and it looks like there are rails conjoined to Eggman's ship.

"Jack, please tell me that the jet is ready?" I asked getting ready to break open the window

"Dude, stop asking me every five minutes or else I won't be able to finish it!" Jack exclaimed in an angry tone

I'm definitely getting on his nerve now, I kept smashing the window with silvertooth's handle but the glass was well fortified that it wouldn't budge and a bullet wouldn't exactly be the most suppressive way to try and get out here without sounding off more alarms. But I suppose I could use that to my advantage, I proceeded out into the hall way where a group of Egg-bots were standing in the middle watching out for me

"You were looking for me?" I whistled and managed to get their attention

"Hostile spotted, engaging" I thought you might want to engage

I ran back into the room I was in and waited for them to walk in and without a doubt they did, very quickly I might add

"Hostile cornered, surrender now and you may be spared death" I heard them speak

"Nope, I think I may just stand here and wait for you to shoot" I grinned

"Engaging" They said as their guns began to spin and fire at me

I dodged them just in time that their laser bullets smashed open the window and then let a huge gust of wind blew into the room knocking them off their feet

"Thank you" I grinned as I jumped out the window and just landed on the rail

"Jack, I'm out of the ship and making my way towards Eggman's carrier what's your status?" I asked keeping my eye out for any units that may attack from the sky

"I've finished the repairs and I'm on my way out now and for the love of god stop asking me next would ya" He replied

"Well make it snappy because I'm about to have company!" I exclaimed

All of a sudden both G.U.N and Egg fleet fighters were all over me and each other, it was hard to dodge the attacks as one faulty move and I would easily become a pancake within minutes. I looked around at the fighting and just as I expected it was brutal, I managed to see one of the G.U.N air ships being destroyed and watched as it burned

"Axel, Scourge is already here, I just flew by Eggman's hanger and saw Scourge disembarking from his ship, you need to hurry or else Jessabel is going to be in a lot of trouble!" Jack exclaimed

"Can you delay him?" I asked frantically hoping that this rail would lead to somewhere close to where Jessabel is

"I'll see what I can do but judging by where you are and Jessabel is located, you'll land one floor below the holding area" he explained

"Alright" I replied

As the rail line went on G.U.N's units backed off from me but Eggman's were still pursuing me like crazy, I switched Silvertooth into its gun state and began firing at them but it wasn't exactly effect, the closest amount of damage I did was dinting the window. I looked forward to see how closer I was to Eggman's ship but noticed that rail was starting to run out, looks like I was wrong about it being fully connected to his ship

"Jack, I sorta need you over here, like now!" I exclaimed trying to figure out how large this gap was

"That's going to be tricky; I've got both G.U.N fighters and Egg-bots chasing after me!"

"Oh that's just great" I replied back looking for a way to escape this fine mess

I noticed an Egg fighter was below me but if I miss it I run the chance of becoming a stain on the ground below, looking around I couldn't see any other viable way out of this and Jack isn't going to make it in time. Oh well, here goes nothing

"Axel, what the hell are you doing!" Jack exclaimed, he must've seen me jump

"Taking a chance" I replied jokingly


	6. Chapter 6: Reunion

FT CHAPTER 6

Axel's POV

I was falling down but I managed to keep myself in line with the Egg fighter, it moved around a lot but it just seemed to be keeping an eye on the lower levels of where the fighting was occurring.

"Hostile detected" I heard the pilot in it say as I landed on it, gripping the handles

"Trying to elude" Oh boy this going to be a rough ride

My grip managed to hold as the fighter kept on zigzagging and dropping up and down trying to shake me off, I had to slowly inch my way towards the pilots seat but at the same time I had to try and not lose my grip.

"Hostile eluded, returning to base" Well, this is better than before but I seriously feel like I want to throw up after all of that

"Jack, there's a change of plans"

"What is it now?"

"I'm heading into Eggman's base through the hanger bay, I managed to hold onto an Egg-fighter and it's heading back into its base which is Eggman's main ship, Just be ready to extract Jessabel" I instructed

"Wait, what about you?" Jack asked

"I'll be having a good word with the doctor" I grinned as the fighter came into the hanger and landed

I slid off the back and hid behind a set of creates while the egg-bots came out and refuel the fighters, I looked around for the closest exit but the closest one was on the other side of the hanger which would practically lead me into a death trap. But right in front of me was a vent and luckily it would fit my size but it could possibly lead somewhere else into the ship, I pulled out the scanner Jack had given me and turned it on. It was showing me where Jessabel was located and thankfully she hadn't moved from where she was but I bet Scourge and Fiona are getting closer to her with each passing minute

"You stupid robots, how did you let him escape?" I heard Eggman exclaim as he walked into the room

"The hostile seems to have eluded us, the last time he was spotted was grinding rails on route to this ship" It replied

"Hmm, perhaps he finally gave up; but I want you to make sure he doesn't sneak on board again because if he does I'll put you in with the rest of the scrapped robots!" Eggman exclaimed storming out of the room

Boy does he sure have a fired up temper, I looked around noticed some explosive barrels next to a fuelling station, I guess they must have emergency fuel in case one of their lines failed, I pulled Silvertooth out in its gun state and aimed at the barrels. I waited for a group of his robots to walk past them before I fired at it, the explosion would give me enough time to run to the exit and hopefully get away from this room. I pulled the trigger and felt the ripple of the explosion go through the room causing a fire and getting all the attention of the egg-bots away from me.

"Priority 5, contain fire to prevent destruction of ship" One of the robots said as I made a mad dash to exit

"YOU IDIOT'S! HE'S RUNNING RIGHT PASS YOU, FORGET THE FIRE AND KILL THE BLASTED BANDICOOT!" Eggman exclaimed as I fired a few more barrels causing them to be caught in the blast and destroyed

"Nice one" I heard Jack say over the com

"Thanks, how are you holding up?" I asked

"I've just been talking to G.U.N and it seems that someone has put in a good word for us" Jack said jokingly over the com

"Let me guess, Sonic and his friends are here?" I asked sarcastically

"Yeah, But we can ask them everything later, right now we still need to get to Jessabel"

"Agreed, so what did they tell us since we're no longer targets for them?" I asked frantically looking for a way to the holding cells

"They said that Eggman's main ship is holding some sort of device giving off a high energy reading, they can't exactly tell what it is but judging by experience this could be the device that Mogul mentioned"

"Alright, It doesn't seem that Scourge has reached Jessabel yet but I'm betting he's really close, also keep Com chatter to a minimum, I have a strong feeling that Eggman might be listening in on us" I replied still looking around

Running through this place was like a maze, it just seemed as if each hall way was the same

"Scourge, you better have a plan here" I heard a voice say further down the hall

"Don't worry Fiona, it's just one little kid, we're grabbing her and going, then Mogul can do whatever he needs to do and not worry his big head about it all" I heard Scourge sigh

I found an entry into the vent system and crawled in but tried my best not to make too much noise inside so they wouldn't run to Jessabel.

"You two took your time" I heard someone say

"Yeah, well air traffic and what not" Scourge smirked

"The girl is still in good condition and I want it left that way understand?" I heard him exclaim

"Calm down, she's only being used as a bargaining chip anyway" Scourge laughed

"Don't push your luck with me Scourge!" The voice exclaimed, I could hear who ever this person was lifting up Scourge and threw him up against the wall

"Not cool man, this jacket is new" Scourge smirked before I heard him being put back down on the ground

"Now, if that's all you wanted, we'll be on our way" Scourge said as they all walked off

"That guy seriously needs to take some time off" Fiona said

"Pfft, he just needs a good whacking across the head Fi and look what we have here" I heard Scourge smirk, I looked below and there was just a grating between me and him, I watched as he leaned in front of a door and pulled it open

"We came here, to pick this girl up... what a waste of time, I was thinking of someone who could fight back, not some pathetic eight year old" Scourge sighed

"It's nine you jerk!" I heard Jessabel retort

"Whatever, just get out of the damn cell" Scourge snapped

"No!" She exclaimed, she was always a bit of an arguer

"Fine I'll get you myself!" Scourge exclaimed

I kicked off the grating and jumped down, pulling out Silvertooth at the same time

"Hands off Scourge!" I exclaimed, his Neck just touching the tip of Silvertooth

"Ah, so you must be the big brother, Mogul warned me you might come" He smirked as he stood back

"Let me-"

"No Fi, this is just between us boys"

"I'm glad you came" Jessabel said hugging me

"Yeah, now stay in that room and don't come out unless I say, I'll deal with scourge" I said pushing her back in and shutting the door

"Touching, too bad you won't be around long enough to see her grow up" Scourge grinned

"I don't plan on dying today" I said readying my blade to attack

"Fiona get back to the plane" Scourge instructed, Fiona nodded and ran off just leaving me and Scourge to dish it out between us.

"Happy now" Scourge said sarcastically

"Whatever, let's just get this over and done with" I grinned while gripping Silvertooth, this is going to be a fast fight


	7. Chapter 7: Attack and Defend

FT C7

Axel's POV

Scourge lunged at me with his fists but kept missing, he was attacking me recklessly trying to get me to slip up but he wasn't aware that he would be the first one to sleep up while we fought. He then stopped throwing punches at me and launched a spin ball attack. I managed to block it but the amount of weight felt as if it was a huge wall of bricks

"I've been working out a lot, been getting some training from a special someone who I work with" Scourge smirked as he launched another spin ball attack at me, this one I managed to dodge but not before he rebounded and hit me right in the back causing me to fly into the wall

"Tired yet?" Scourge laughed

"No, in fact, you're just warming me up" I grinned launching myself at Scourge with my sword in hand

His super speed makes it almost impossible to try and cause some major damage on him but I managed to get a few cuts and scratches on him, it was almost as if nothing was effective against him, whoever he's been working out with certainly knows how to improve his strength.

"Why don't you just give up, spare yourself this fight and just go home" Scourge sighed

"Like hell I'm just giving up" I barked back

"Ha, it's just as he said; you keep striving until you've finished what you started, seriously you should just quit while your ahead" Scourge smirked

"Yeah and by 'he' you mean Mogul, seriously he must know everything if he likes keeping you around" I sarcastically said

Scourge raised his eye at me looking at me as if I had hit a cord with him

"But seriously, once I finish you off I'm taking the girl and ditching this hell hole, not much point in staying if the ship is going to go down" Scourge said charging at me

He jumped up and tried to kick me in the head but I managed to block his attack, it was still hard to try and keep my ground as his attacks still felt as if they were just bricks. He kept lunging and spin balling at me, each attack making me have to re-act faster and faster. Eventually I slipped up and he spin balled me right in the chest, as he hit me this time I lost my grip on Silvertooth and dropped it before I was smashed into the wall, it felt as if I had just been ran over by several cars.

"Oh, now would you looky here" Scourge said slyly as he picked up Silvertooth

"Crap that hurts!" Scourge exclaimed as he got a sudden shock of electricity, I don't understand, for me it feels like an ordinary sword and doesn't have the tendency to shock me but for him it's the opposite

"Fine, I don't need a stupid sword to finish you off, I'll just do it the old fashion way!" He exclaimed smashing open a window with his fist before picking me up, I tried to fight back but my body was aching so much that it just hurt to move in general. He threw me over the side but I managed to grip onto the ledge

"I don't see why you refuse to accept it, you've lost and I've won, just like I always do" he snarled, I could him clenching his fists so, it seems like he's going to slam my hands until I let go

"If I'm still breathing, I haven't lost!" I exclaimed back trying to get the energy to pull myself up

"Hmph, so what if it-"A gunshot interrupted Scourge mid sentenced, I saw something pierce his Jacket and make a deep cut across his arm

"Hands off him you idiot!" I heard Jessabel exclaim, while Scourge was distracted I quickly pulled myself up and over to see Jessabel was just able to hold Silvertooth with both her hands

"You little brat!" Scourge exclaimed walking over to her and slapping her across the face

"Hey, no one treats her like that!" I exclaimed lunging myself at Scourge and smashing him in the back before he went flying at the wall. I picked up Silvertooth and sheathed it knowing that it wouldn't be effective as my fists were

"What's this?" He exclaimed getting up dazed, I lunged myself at him yet again and got him in the face this time knocking out a tooth, I kept throwing punches at him and each hit kept causing him to become more dazed and wounded then before. I then threw him up against the wall

"Hehe, so what a few punches isn't going to do much against me!" He exclaimed

"No, but this might!" I exclaimed smashing him into the wall several times before dropping him on the floor

"I...I never" Scourge said before passing out on the floor

"Scourge!" someone screamed, I looked to my left and saw that Fiona had appeared and rushed over to his aid

"Just take him, he's knocked out so don't expect there to be too much trouble from him" I jokingly said

"Come on, let's get you out of here, we'll be back, you can count on it!" Fiona exclaimed picking him up before running off

"You ok Kiddo?" I asked Jessabel as I sat down to catch a breather

"Yeah, a slap isn't going to do much against me" she said laughing

"Man, my head hurts after that, come on, let's get you out of here" I said getting back up

"Jack?" I asked over com

"I'm here, what's up?"

"I've secured Jessabel, can you meet us at the hanger or is that fire still going?"

"Judging by what I can see the fire has stopped so I should be able to land" He replied

"Ok, I'll see you there"

"Are you alright, you sound like you've been ran over by a car or something?" Jack asked jokingly

"Nah, I've just been in a fight with Scourge, I'm alright through just a few bruises and cuts but nothing major" I replied making my way

"Ok, I'll see you then"

"Come kiddo, let's get you outta here" I said bending down to let her hop on my back so I wouldn't have to worry about her getting lost

We didn't waste much time getting there as I wanted to get her off this ship so that she wouldn't be in as much danger as she has been. I managed to remember the way to the hanger this time so I wouldn't get lost all over again like I did before. As we entered Jack had landed in side and was waiting for us beside his jet

"Well, you got here quickly" Jack said sarcastically

"It could've been longer if I hadn't remembered which way the hanger was" I said letting Jessabel off my back

"Well, at least your both ok" he said with a smile

"Yeah, it was Jessabel who actually prevented me from being thrown back onto the surface below"

"Lucky you" He said as I helped Jessabel into the jet's cockpit

"Listen, you guys get out of here, as I stated before I'm going up stairs to have a talk with the doctor" I said pulling out Silvertooth

"Are you sure you want to do that, like you run a 50/50 chance of not coming back and maybe even lower after that fight with Scourge?" Jack asked me

"It's ok, I have a backup plan in case if I get caught in a sticky situation" I winked

"Alright then, we'll head out, just radio in when you want me to pick you up" Jack replied before getting in the jet and taking off

I looked around for a lift that would take me directly to Eggman's floor and luckily there was a service elevator located next to the recently destroyed fuel tanks that looked relatively intact, I opened the hatch and crawled inside before pressing the button to go up.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU CAN'T FIND HIM ON THE HOLDING FLOOR KEEP SEARCHING!" I could hear Eggman ranting, his voice is louder then when Jack is wearing his headset and talking at the same time

The lift kept going up and I could hear Eggman's voice getting louder and louder as well as more aggressive with each search party telling him they couldn't find me

"LISTEN ALL OF YOU STUPID ROBOTS! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU FIND THAT BLASTED BANDICOOT AND GET RID OF HIM, NOW STOP STANDING AROUND AND GET TO WORK!" He yelled smashing something that sounded like a glass or vase; I must be making him very very angry

The lift stopped and it sounded like I was right outside Eggman's floor, I slowly opened the hatch and saw Eggman standing by his console mashing buttons and trying to quickly resolve the issue with me being on board

"Where are you, you blasted Bandicoot, I know you're on board my ship and I just want you off!" He was randomly babbling to himself, he was too distracted to notice me slip by and hide behind a pillar

"SNIVELY, GET YOUR BALD HEAD IN HERE!"

"Yes-s-s-s uncle?" I heard him say as I saw this small bald headed man walk into the room, he seemed scared out of his skin and add the fact that he's Eggman's nephew and that just makes it worse for him

"Is this floor secured?" Eggman asked leaning over his console

"It is, he won't be able to get past us" Snively replied, he seemed very confident

"Are you sure about that, then would you be so graceful to explain to me WHY THE SERVICE ELEVATOR IS OPEN!" Eggman yelled pointing at it, oh this can't get better

"I'll-l-l investigate it right away uncle" he stuttered rushing out of the room

I quickly moved between the pillars trying to hide from Eggman but looked as if he was too distracted by trying to find me on the cameras that he didn't notice me move around. I then sneaked up to the front of it and saw all the loose cables that were connected to his command console

"Jack, I don't suppose pulling out a ton of command cables would cause some damage to Eggman's command centre?" I whispered over the com while pulling open the hatch

"Possibly, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering" I said cutting the cables lose using Silvertooth, after cutting the cables I quickly called back into a small shaft big enough for me to fit and hide in

"WHAT! WHY DID ALL THE SYSTEMS JUST GO DOWN! SNIVELY GET BACK IN HERE!" Eggman yelled, now he's mad

"What is it now uncle?" he asked nervously moving into the room

"The system just failed, check the cables below for any un-wanted company, I'll be up here trying to do the same!" he exclaimed

I saw Snively bend down, I didn't move but aimed Silvertooth at him just incase he saw me; I wasn't going to shoot him but instead try to scare him off.

"Uncle, someone cut the-e-e cables" he stuttered

"Well have a look around and SEE WHAT CAUSED IT!" Eggman yelled

"Sir, there appears to be a blood trail here" he replied bending down and following the trailer with his eyes, I looked at my hand and noticed the cut from the glass window had gotten worst since I last checked

"What where?" Eggman asked leaning over and looking at the pattern and then towards where I was hiding

"hohoho, I see" He said slyly

Great they've seen me, alright hiding time is over, I quickly stood up and lunged myself at Snively

"Uncle!" He exclaimed as I shoved him out the door and locked it making sure he wouldn't be able to come back in, I quickly then switched Silvertooth into its gun state and aimed it at Eggman

"Quick to act are we!" Eggman exclaimed looking dead on at me

"Face it Eggman, its game over for you!" I exclaimed pointing Silvertooth at Eggman

"No, it's quite the opposite you idiotic bandicoot!" Eggman exclaimed pressing a red button and launching out his newest robotic creation

"Now, prepare to face my latest creation the Egg Destroyer, It'll be the last fight you ever take part in!" Eggman exclaimed pushing buttons all over his pod's interface

I managed to dodge it's on coming missile attack but not before I got caught up in the explosion and being flung against the wall and becoming somewhat unconscious. I could feel the force of the impact hitting my head as I had hit a wall head on, as well I could feel blood running down the side of head which must have been from a deep gash across the side of my head as that feels the most painful

"Any last words you pathetic bandicoot!" Eggman exclaimed knowing I wasn't able to respond

"I guess not" Eggman smirked, I could hear his pod opening and him getting out of it, I also heard something click and it sounded like a gun or something, there was no doubt it was a gun as I could hear him load a mag into it

"Haha, Farewell" Eggman grinned aiming it at my head

I could feel a huge blast of wind hitting me from the back; Eggman's missile attack must've blown a hole in the wall and that means

"What the..." I heard Eggman say, I grinned as I finally came around to my senses and could see Eggman covering his eyes as a giant light came over us; I managed to look around and saw Jack and Jessabel in the jet aiming everything at Eggman.

"I would think twice if I was you" I heard Jack say over the loudspeaker as I pulled myself up leaning against the pillar and looked as Sonic and Sally were standing on the wings of the jet and jumping into the room

"Evening Eggbeared" Sonic retorted

"Blasted hedgehog!" Eggman exclaimed firing the gun at him but all the shots missed him completed. The next thing I knew Sonic spinballed his arm and knocked the gun clearly out of his hand.

"Damn it!" Eggman spat

"So doctor, do you mind explaining the whole invasion fleet?" Sally asked staring him down

"Alright, Alright" Eggman said in a panic

"About time he started explaining" I remarked walking over to where Sonic and Sally were standing

"I was aware that someone was listening in my communications, but I believed it to be G.U.N since there untimely arrival and what not"

"Keep going!" Sally exclaimed

"I was working on a device for Mogul, he said something about it being for a friend but didn't tell me anything else apart from giving me the schematics for the device, he said something about locating some sort of treasure or item but he never told me what it was" he said hastily pulling out some blueprints from his pockets

"I'll take those" I said snatching them from his hand

"And knowing you he promised something in return for your service" Sally said sarcastically as Eggman nodded

"Well, I think that's all we're going to get out of him" I remarked watching as Eggman fainted

"Not wrong there dude" Sonic said tapping Eggman on the head to see if he was still alive

"We'll meet back up at new Mobotropolis and we'll explain everything from there" Sally said

"Alright, I'll see you there then" I replied making my way over to the Jet

"Also Axel" Sally yelled out

"Yeah?"

"Thank you" she said

"For what? I asked turning around

"For not killing Eggman" She replied

"I wasn't planning to" He I sighed back hopping into the cockpit and shutting the window

"Man, I don't recall the last time I felt this much pain" I groaned

"Just try and relax, we'll be back in new Mobotropolis in no time" Jack said pulling away from the fight

"I'm just glad you came out of that alive" Jessabel said

"Yeah, so am I" I sighed putting on some bandages to try and halt the bleeding

Now that Mogul has the device in his grasp things are about to get much more interesting and harder. Let's hope we can survive what's coming.

METAL CITY

Normal POV

"Scourge" Mogul said standing up from sitting on a park bench

"Mogul, good to see you as well" he said throwing an sphere like object at Mogul before he caught it

"I see you got the device, my apprentice will be pleased" he remarked before putting it in his pocket

"What about the doc, he's going to blabber mouth everything to the boy" Scourge sighed leaning against a light post his body still aching from the massive beating Axel gave him

"Do not worry about the doctor, just focus on you and your team with taking out the resistance" Mogul retorted

"Which leads me to ask the question, who is he?" Scourge asked

"Axel, he's a mercenary but he has a partner as well called Jack" Mogul explained sitting back down

"And the girl?" Scourge asked

"None of your concern" Mogul spat back

"So what, those two can't take all of us out" Scourge said

"Need I remind you of the fight that happened on board the egg fleet today, where he beat the living daylights out of you" Mogul replied causing Scourge to become very quiet

"My point exactly, we need to move against them and if they continue to intercept our transmissions then we'll have a major problem" Mogul sighed

"So what, we get Kuku to launch an assault on them and then boom, no more Axel and Jack"

"No, Axel has something of worth that is extremely important to me and our plan, he can't be disposed off until I have it" Mogul sighed at Scourges incompetence

"Now enough about my plan's, what about the Destructix, I heard you found Drago and Lynx?" Mogul asked

"Yeah, they were in downunda trying to get away from what's happening but we managed to bring them back" Scourge grinned lifting up his red sun glasses

"Good, find the rest and our forces will bolstered even more" Mogul said as he felt a vibration coming from his pocket

"Ah, this will be my apprentice, we will speak again but until then you know who to go to" Mogul said walking away talking on his phone

"Hmph would be nice to know what he's exactly planning with what's been happening" Scourge sighed speeding off

"That's right boy's, tell me everything" whispered a feminie voice from the bushes


	8. Chapter 8: Information

FT chapter 8

It had been a full week since Axel and Jack returned from their assault on the Eggfleet and to their surprise was the sudden appearance of Sonic and Sally. Axel had to have stitches applied to the wound across his head by doctor Quack and had been instructed to rest up and let the wound heal.

"I see your awake, how are you feeling with those stitches in the side of your head?" Jack asked walking into Axel's room at the hotel they were staying at in New Mobotropolis

"Could be worse, my head still feels like a brick smashed it open" he laughed getting off his bed

"Well if you hadn't gotten so cocky you wouldn't have had that nasty gash in the first place" Jack retorted leaning against the wall

"I should've been more careful but I suppose these things happen" He said picking up Silvertooth and putting it back in his sheath

"Yup, that they do" Jack said

"What about you, what have you been up to these last few days?" Axel asked walking out of the room followed by Jack

"I've been tuning up the Borealis" he replied throwing his cloth aside

"Since when do you name aircraft?" Axel asked looking at him

"Since last week" Jack said as he continued walking

"Where's Jessabel?" Axel asked looking out the window at the city

"She's just playing around with TAU" Jack replied looking at the clock on the wall

"So I guess you got him mobile?" Axel asked

"Yeah, I managed to copy most of his critical files and functions onto my PDA as well as all the extra stuff that allows him to move around; anyway I needed to let you know that Sally heard you're feeling better so she's asked for us to meet her at the castle to talk about a few things" Jack replied

"Alright, I'll be up at there in a minute, I'll just go get Jessabel" Axel said walking off down the hall

He hadn't been feeling himself at all lately, since the Eggfleet attack he felt as if something wasn't right but kept trying to shove it aside as if he was just over reacting about nothing. He walked into the living room and saw Jessabel trying to grab hold of a blue sphere like object that was floating around the room.

"Master Axel!" The sphere exclaimed as he walked into the room

"It's alright TAU and please remember to just call me Axel" He said sitting down on the couch

"Yes of course, If you would be as so kind to excuse me now, I need to be going, Master Jack requires my presence" TAU replied as he the orb floated out of the window

"I have no idea how he does it, but it's so cool!" Jessabel exclaimed sitting down next Axel

"How are you holding up kiddo?" Axel asked tussling her hair

"I'm alright, still a bit tired after it all through" she replied back hugging him

"Yeah, so am I" Axel sighed

"Something wrong?" She asked

"Just the last few days have been exhausting, but hey we'll be back home soon anyway" He replied

"That we will" Jessabel replied

"Now come on we need to head to the castle, Sally wants to see us" Axel said getting up followed by Jessabel

The pair of them made their way to the stair case and proceeded up them until they got to the roof where Jack was in the Borealis getting everything ready before they took off. Axel climbed into his seat followed by Jessabel who sat on his lap due to their only being two seats.

"TAU, everything set?" Jack asked shutting the cockpit windows

"engines are ready and holding steady, navigation is good, fuel at eighty five percent, all systems green you are set for takeoff" TAU replied

"Thank you TAU, engaging hover mode" Jack said pulling on a leaver

The wheels of the Borealis lifted up and closed before two fans appeared on both wings and allowed it to elevate off the ground before Jack flew forward

"Uh, since when could this happen?" Axel asked

"Well since I was able to work a full week without a problem occurring, I was able to unlock some of the features that had been locked out of the Borealis prior to us obtaining it" Jack replied keeping an eye on the sky

"And one of those features was having the option to go between flying fast and flying steady?" Axel asked looking at the turbines

"That would be correct" TAU replied as they continued flying

As Axel looked over the city he noticed how much was happening at one time here compared to Metal City which was relatively louder compared to New Mobotropolis. But as they kept flying Axel still couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong and as they started to approach the castle that feeling kept getting worse. From a distance the trio of them were able to recognize that Sally was out the front awaiting their arrival, Jack began to descend the Borealis and landed at the front which had a landing pad instead of grass

"Nanites at work again" Axel remarked as he recalled the front was nothing but grass and a path as they landed on it

"Well, you've finally arrived" Sally remarked as Jack opened the cockpit

"Not my fault this one had to get a massive cut" Jack said jokingly pointing at Axel

"The others are inside and I see you bought someone else" Sally said looking at Jessabel

"Uh Sally, the others are kinda getting impatient" NICOLE said appearing in front of them

"Alright, come on in then" Sally said opening the door as she entered followed by Axel, Jessabel and Jack

As they walked in they saw that a group of people sitting in an oval like pattern and wearing the same blue and red uniform each in front of them, along with Sonic and the others were standing in front of the table.

"Elias" Sally said walking into the room

"Sally, I believe everyone is gathered?" Elias asked as everyone else replied nodding

"Good, now we can begin" he said grabbing some documents

"To begin with, I would first like to discuss the matter of these three" Elias said pointing out Axel, Jack and Jessabel

"Elias, we already discussed this" Sally sighed

"Yes but I want to make sure that they won't do it again" Elias said, his face flustering with a temper

"Make sure we won't do what again?" Axel asked folding his arms

"He's worried you'll try and kill me again" Sonic sighed as well

"Exactly, what makes it possible that you only came to try and kill him again!" Elias exclaimed waving his fist in the air

"Eggman's been dealt with and I got Jessabel back, I can assure the chance of something like that happening again are none" Axel smirked

"I still don't trust you but whatever we are here for a different reason" Elias said fixing up his papers

"We understand that you acquired some sort of blueprint from Eggman while aboard his ship" A old blue hedgehog asked

"Indeed we did" Axel replied

"And these blueprints were of some device, correct?" A walrus wearing glasses asked

"That would be correct" Axel replied

"Charles, Rotor, I'm the one asking questions here!" Elias exclaimed dropping his papers

"Here he goes again" Sonic said trying not to laugh

"My brother has my father's temper and this tends to happen" Sally sighed rubbing her temples

"The blueprints, I understand both parties have been analysing them" Rotor asked while Elias was trying to calm himself down

"NICOLE" Sally called but she didn't appear

"Great where could she be?" Sally said looking around

"TAU, do you mind?" Jack asked as TAU appeared

"Of course" TAU replied floating off into the centre

"Interesting fellow you've got here" Rotor said looking at TAU

"I was able to analyse the blue prints and discovered that they were for a device that was previously believed to have been destroyed by an unknown force" TAU said

"Sorry I didn't come, had to fix up a system error" NICOLE said to Sally as she saw TAU floating and explaining

"Ah NICOLE so glad you could join us" Elias said

"It would be good to have assistance with this presentation" TAU said turning around and looking at her

"Of course" A confused NICOLE replied making her way

"Where are we at?" NICOLE asked TAU

"I was up to the part of mentioning that item was destroyed by an unknown force" TAU replied hovering as

"Oh right, it seems as if this blueprint is for a device was made during an unknown event and our databases show that only one man still retains the blueprint from this event" NICOLE said bringing up the diagram of the blueprint

"Mammoth Mogul" Rotor said leaning forwards followed the rest of the council

"But why would Mogul want to re-create this device" Elias asked

"I ran numerous tests and found that the device is designed to enhance magical abilities and since only Mogul possess the required magic to activate the device, he himself would be as interested in it more than anyone else" TAU replied bringing up a 3D render of it

"The sphere requires four objects to activate it, the first one appears to be a relic of some sort" NICOLE said

"The second one appears to be a necklace or some form of object that one would wear around the neck" TAU said looking at NICOLE

"Right and the third and fourth appear to be something that is on whole object but has to be broken into two for it to be compatible with the orb, like some sort of staff" NICOLE said zooming in on the rendered area

"See in between the top of the stone and the staff bit, the lines that break" she pointed out

"Have we found anything that matches these objects?" Charles asked cautiously

"Databases I have checked so far have no reference to the objects but I did discover something else about it" TAU said showing a top view of it

"The device requires some sort of object to activate it that goes through hole in the top and activates the rest, so far I have found no relevant data that would indicate what sort of object is required to power up the device" TAU said

"And that's all you have?" Elias asked

"I'm afraid so" NICOLE replied

"Alright, continue your investigation into the device, until then, Axel I ask that you and your friends leave New Mobotropolis" Elias said hastily

"Um, why?" Jack asked confused

"It's just for now, news of the attempted assassination and your presence here is causing people to be worried about their safety, I'm sorry but it's just until everyone calms down" Charles assured them

Axel grunted and his expression turned to frustration and annoyance, he felt as if they were pretty much saying get out and never return as he knew there tone was pretty much asking that. He looked at Elias and the expression on his face was as if he didn't give a damn about what had just been said and done in the last week.

"Fine" Axel said unhappily as the others looked at him

"Really, that's all you're going to say?" Elias asked him

"Well, if you don't want us around, there isn't much point in saying anything else" Axel said as he proceeded to the door

"Wait?" Elias exclaimed, Axel knew he had gotten some reaction out of him

"Yes?" Axel replied turning around and looking at Elias

"There is one other thing" Elias said hesitantly

"Get to the point" Sally said getting frustrated with her older brother

"If Mogul does contact you in the future, come back here immediately and inform us" Elias said

"No problem" Axel grinned making his way out the door followed by Jack and Jessabel

Several minutes passed and Sonic and Sally followed by Bunnie and Tails came out to see the trio before they headed off

"Well, that didn't go as well as I thought it would" Jack sighed

"At least your allowed to come back if Mogul 'calls'" Sonic said sarcastically

"Funny" Axel said helping Jessabel into the Borealis

"I like the AI you have" Tails said pointing out TAU has appeared again

"Thanks, He's useful in his own way" Jack said as TAU floated around Tails looking at him

"I operate all cyber warfare units and manage security and defences in case of cybernetic attacks, I also have access to security systems in any local area as long as I remain stationary or within range of their data stream" TAU explained

"So that would explain the random individual in the system" NICOLE said appearing

"I only control security camera access if I'm in foreign area, no need to panic" TAU said as he turned his attention to NICOLE

"Well I suppose that's some relief" she said chuckling

"What about you Axel, what are you going to do now?" Sally asked Axel

"I guess we'll see what happens" he replied leaning against the wheel of the Borealis

"Well, just know even through my brother say's you're only allowed back in case of an emergency, you'll be allowed back at anytime" Sally said offering her hand which Axel replied with a hand shake

"Well sugah, you best be scramming" Bunnie said jokingly

"We'll be back soon enough" Axel laughed as he got into the Borealis followed by Jack and then TAU who floated into main control panel as Jack began to shut the cockpit

"All systems green, you are clear for takeoff" TAU said as Jack elevated the Jet and took off into the sky

As they looked back they saw that the others were waving goodbye as they flew off, Axel still felt annoyed by the fact that the council said they were no longer in a different way but felt somewhat glad that at least Sally said he was welcomed back no matter what

"Well at least we're finally heading back" Jack sighed letting the Borealis go on auto pilot and TAU take control over everything else

"Yeah, finally get to see the city again" Axel sighed leaning further back into his seat as Jessabel feel asleep laying against her as they all tried to get some rest

45 minutes later

"Master Jack, something you may want to see" TAU said waking up Jack and Axel

"What is it TAU?" Jack asked looking at the holographic screen that appeared

"We appear to have had company during the last twenty four hours"

"Wait, what?" Axel exclaimed

"I was going through our security footage from the last twenty four hours since I was able to transfer myself to your PDA and this happened while you were gone" TAU replied playing the footage on the holographic screen in front of Jack and on the monitor where Axel was sitting

"Damn it, Mogul said it would be here!" Drago exclaimed throwing a whole bunch of boxes off the table

"Keep looking you moron" Scourge snapped sitting on the couch

"Why are we even looking for this thing now, they could be back any minute now!" Fiona exclaimed at Scourge

"What our new boss says's go, he wants the placed searched, so we search" Scourge replied as if he didn't give a damn

"Light, what the hell are you doing?" Drago asked Lynx as he was going through the pantry

"Who's not to say they hid in a pantry, it's possible" Lynx replied

"Oh yeah your right, let me help you with that" Dragon replied as he began looking through the kitchen

"We've searched this place top to bottom and found nothing, let's just get out of here" Fiona sighed in frustration

"Fine, we've been here long enough but just before we go" Scourge grinned looking at the security camera and pulling out a nine millimetre gun

"Let's give these guys a kind message" He grinned firing the gun and shooting the camera causing nothing but static for the next ten seconds

"Did they take anything?" Jack asked biting his lip

"No, I am currently running the cleaning bots and repair bots trying to make the place what it was before the attack" TAU replied

"Alright, TAU do this as well, try and find any evidence that may lead to where they are going, if we get something, perhaps we can deal some damage to Scourge and his crew" Axel stated

"I will" TAU said

"They're trying really hard to make this personal" Axel grunted

"Not wrong their" Jack said in frustration

"Yeah but mayb- Wait, TAU begin going through Metal City security systems and also begin to search for any information you can find on Scourge and his crew as well, if you can relay as much of this back to Sally, we're going to need as much as help we can get" Axel instructed

"Understood, I began scanning security systems about two hours ago so I can try and back trace their movements, I have also begun to scan databases for any relative information, would you also like a communications link set up with New Mobotropolis?" TAU asked

"Do it" Axel replied

"Very well, I shall begin immediately" TAU said

"I get why we're informing them but this is just Scourge and three others, we can take them easily" Jack said opening his laptop and turning it on

"No they're going to be hard, the fight with Scourge was hard enough as it was and I barely came out of there alive, if there's a possibility that they all have grown stronger then we need all the help we can get" Axel said as he pushed a button that brought up a holographic screen and keyboard

"What are you doing now?" Jack asked working on his laptop

"Going through the market and seeing if we can find any weaponry that'll be useful" Axel replied back focusing on the screen

"Funny, I'm doing the same thing except for parts, I'm surprised Jessabel hasn't woken up" Jack grinned

"She's out cold at the moment; I say she's had little to no sleep since being kidnapped" Axel replied looking down at her as she slept away

"How much money do we have at the moment?" Axel asked looking through the list

"A lot, like a lot, all those bonuses we have gotten in these past few months have been well earned" Jack laughed

"Alright, well let's start shopping them" Axel said jokingly


	9. Chapter 9: Retaliation

eFT Chapter 9

As the Borealis approached the Metal City outskirts, Axel became really impatient as he was busting to try and see what data TAU had collected during the long flight back. He also felt enraged at the fact that Scourge and his crew broke into his house and knew they would most likely have to re-locate due to it. As Jack came into land Axel opened his part of the cockpit hastily and jumped out of it landing successfully on his feet.

"I haven't seen him this tense" Jack remarked landing the Borealis on its landing pad

"Not wrong their" Jessabel sighed hopping out followed by Jack

By the time the pair got out Axel had gone down the stair case right into the living room where numerous folders and papers were laid across the living room table which Axel had noticed while throwing Silvertooth into his bedroom

"TAU, did you establish a link with Sally?" Axel asked as Jack and Jessabel came in and TAU appeared

"I successfully did establish that link; the com is on standby and ready when you want to use it, I also have managed to locate enough footage to suggest where Scourge and the Destructix had come from prior to the break in" TAU replied bring up a holographic screen

"And?" Jack asked tilting his head a bit

"They appear to have originated from this lounge here, it's a low profile lounge and only those who know it's location can get access" TAU replied showing the security footage

"Any of the Destructix there right now?" Axel asked

"No, but they do make regular visits from time to time and I will keep you updated, also that mail you ordered has arrived, I have put them in the main workshop" TAU replied

"Alright, thanks for that" Jack said as Axel began going through the all files that TAU had collected on the Destructix

Jessabel went straight to her room and tried to get some sleep since they arrived back home rather late at night. Jack and Axel mainly spent it working and trying to figure out how to deal with the whole Destructix situation. But they both were also worried about the device Mogul had secured from Eggman.

"TAU, I need a favour" Axel asked

"What do you require?"

"Search for available apartments and ones that are big, we need a lot of room, hell even a building that's empty and can be renovated to a good condition will do" Axel instructed

"I shall, but may I ask why?" TAU asked

"Yeah, why?" Jack asked as well

"We don't want our location compromised even more also if Mogul knows where we are things could get worse" he replied rubbing his forehead

"Very well, I shall check on Jessabel and see how she is doing" TAU replied as the sphere floated away

"You really want to play it safe for now don't you?" Jack asked with some concern in his tone

"I don't want any one being hurt at the moment; it's too risky epically now that all of Mogul's agents know where we are, things are much direr" Axel replied leaning back on the couch

"Fair enough I suppose" Jack replied

All of a sudden a beeping noise came from the study

"What is it this time" Jack sighed getting up and making his way to his computer looking at the monitors and seeing what was happening

"Woah, someone is sending us a whole tone of information" Jack said with amazement

"What?" Axel asked in confusion making his way to the study and watched as a video began playing on screen

It was from the conversation Scourge and Mogul had on the night of Eggman's defeat at the hands of Axel, they watched as the device was passed from Scourge to Mogul and the discussion they had about them. The video then ended after the lens closed and the female voice said her part. All of a sudden a message appeared on screen that said

'Thank me later, V'

"Who the hell is V?" Axel asked tilting his head

"I dunno, but whoever the hell she is just helped us in some way" Jack replied trying to locate the source of the message which had come from a local internet cafe but the user was un-registered

"Axel, A com call is on standby in the com room" TAU said appearing

"Alright, tell them I'll be there in a minute, keep at it Jack" Axel said walking off into the com room

As Axel walked in the doors behind him close and the rest of the room lit up, a pad in the centre which was then surrounded by three other smaller pads.

"Umm, TAU please explain to me what happened to the com room?" Axel asked looking around in confusion

"Since the old one was rather trashed I was able to begin construction on an update communication system, the system I have set up is also located within New Mobotropolis as NICOLE was kind enough to aid in the construction on their end, the other pads are in case we have multiple contacts in one conversation" TAU replied

"Aright then, patch it through I guess" Axel said with confusion

Within a few second Sally had appeared as well as Sonic on another pad both blue holograms

"Well, this is un-expected" Axel said crossing his arms

"We heard about the attack on your home, we just wanted to make sure you were ok" Sally said

"We're fine thanks for asking, anything happening on your end?" Axel asked

"Nothing much, all we've had is a slight shower and that's it" Sonic said jokingly

"Listen I know this isn't the best of times but what do you guys know about Scourge and the Destructix?" Axel asked

"Well for starter's Scourge is actually Anti-Sonic" Sally sighed

"But why is he green?" Axel asked

"He tried to absorb the power of a chaos emerald, he was interrupted half way through the process, things happened and now he's green" Sonic said

"Really, that is bizarre" Axel said rubbing the top of his head

"Its story for another day I think, but what about you guys, are you holding up okay after Scourge got in?" Sally asked concerned

"Yes, we are fine, is that all you guys called to ask or is there something else" Axel said frustratingly

"Elias has something to say, he's still trying to turn his pad on, but NICOLE is helping him with it" Sally laughed

As they waited another hologram this time of Elias began to appear

"Yes, NICOLE I've figured it out, urgh this new system is stupid" Elias grunted

"Elias you're microphone is on we can here you rant" Sonic laughed

"Whatever, I take it you dragged me into this because of what I know?" Elias asked fixing up his clothes as Axel and the other s nodded looking at Elias

"Recently we've been keeping an eye on activity around Metal City since the reports of Scourge and the Destructix appearing have begun to increase" Elias explained

"But I thought Acorn has no reach over Metal City, only Metal City politicians do?" Axel asked

"We have some reach but not a lot, they pretty much allow us to arrest people who have committed crimes on Acorn soil and thus, give us permission to take arrest but we need a warrant" Elias replied

"Pretty much this is what our scouts have gathered; Scourge is working on something big and with this new boss of his who we know is tied to Mogul in some way or form is involved" Elias said

"Axel, I need to see you, something big just came up" Jack said as he voice came over the loud speaker

"Alright give me a moment, is there anything else that is extremely important and it can't wait that you need to tell me?" Axel asked

"Nothing right now" Sally replied as Elias and Sonics hologram disappeared

"Ok, thanks for the information then, speak to you later" Axel said walking out of the com room and making his way back to the study

"What is it?" Axel asked sitting down

"One of our sensor drones just picked up the Destructix heading this way, they're coming back because they know we're here" Jack said with fear strong in his voice

"Damn it, they must have this place on surveillance, TAU" Axel yelled

"Yes Axel?" TAU asked as he appeared

"I want all critical gear transported to the vault including our packages, make sure those are not damaged, I also need this place set to detonate if they come in this room, they are not to even pass the third floor, disable all the lifts and deadlock the doors, the only way they're going to get through is if they bring a battering ram made of gold" Axel instructed as he made his way towards Jessabel's room and opened the door

"Jessabel wake up, we need to get out of here!" Axel exclaimed shaking her a little which stirred her from her sleep

"Huh, what's going?" She asked confused

"Listen, get up to the Jet and get in the cockpit, Scourge and his friends are coming, Jack has deadlocked the bottom floor doors so they can't get in before you reach the Borealis" Axel reassured her putting a coat on her

"Alright, I'll stay put in their" Jessabel said before grabbing her things and making her way out and up the stairs to the Borealis

"Jack, get me Sally now!" Axel exclaimed walking into the com room

"Done, patching her through now"

"What is it, I thought we had ended this conversation five minutes ago" Sally said yawning

"Listen, Scourge and the Destructix are making their way here; we need a place to hide out until we can figure out our next plan?" Axel asked desperately

"Axel, TAU has downloaded himself to the Jet's computer he's on board with Jessabel and has its cloak engaged, he's also transferred all of the files from my computers as well, all of our data is safe, also all of our important cargo and household items have been moved into the vault in the basement, it's pretty much indestructible" Jack said over the loud speaker

"Please, tell me this isn't a joke?" Sally asked confused

"It isn't a joke Sally, we're being serious!" Axel exclaimed

"No, you are not to come here, go somewhere else!" Elias exclaimed as he appeared

"Damn it, Elias we're you there that entire time" Sally said aggressively

"Yes, I forgot to turn this thing off, Listen I don't want these people coming here; the people are scared as it is, we can't risk it" Elias said defiantly

"Elias now is not the time to let this get in the way!" Sally exclaimed

"I am not letting Jessabel get taken again!" Axel exclaimed to try and convince Elias to let them come

"WHAT SHE ACTUALLY LIVES WITH YOU!" Elias exclaimed in anger

"That's why I went to the Eggfleet in the first place, to save her you idiot!" Axel exclaimed

"Boys, the time for fighting isn't now!" Sally exclaimed trying to calm the pair down

"Fine, come here then, but don't start causing trouble" Elias sighed as his hologram disappeared

"I'll have the guest rooms set up by the time you arrive, see you then" Sally said as her hologram vanished as well

"I've got TAU'S computer terminal with me, we need to go now!" Jack exclaimed as the com room doors opened

"Alright, let's go" Axel replied as Jack threw him Silvertooth trying to hold TAU's terminal at the same time

As they made their way up the stairs Axel kept looking down to see if Scourge had gotten through, he hadn't but they heard the Destructix pull up out the front as they made it to the roof. Axel leaned over the edge and saw Scourge and his crew trying to bash open the front door

"Simian, smash the door open!" Scourge smirked

"With pleasure" Simian said as he started bashing at the door

"Scourge look!" Lynx pointed up at Axel

"Hehe, looks like the mouse has come out to play" Scourge grinned lowering his sun glasses

"Jack keep the Borealis cloaked I have an idea" Axel whispered as Jack got in and closed the cockpit door rendering the jet invisible

Axel pulled out Silvertooth and stood ready awaiting for Scourge to appear at any moment, knowing he was Sonics opposite he knew that he had super speed as well as the short file he read on Lynx as well he knew of his powers as well.

"Alright, Lynx your with me, Simian and Dragon smash this door down, Fiona make sure they do" He grinned as he ran up the wall followed by Lynx

"Well, Well, Well, look who finally decided to join the party" Scourge smirked

"Trust me I'm in no mood this time" Axel spat holding his ground

"Really, I was sorta hoping you were" Scourge said slyly

"Let me hit him with some of my lighting!" Lynx exclaimed swinging around some electric rods he was holding in his hand

"You know what, go ahead" Scourge grinned as Lynx launched himself at Axel

Axel put his sword up in defence and managed to block Lynx's on coming attack but was shocked by some of his lighting as one of their hands made contact allowing Lynx to send electricity through Axel's body, causing him to fly back and hit the ground. Scourge launched a spin ball and hit him the chest this time going full pelt

"Haha, you're nothing when against the two of us" Scourge said showing off

"Maybe by myself" Axel said slowly getting up

"But not when I have a giant gun by my side!" Axel exclaimed as the Jet came out of cloaking at began firing at Scourge and Lynx

"Jack fire the missiles; blow these idiots to kingdom come!" Axel exclaimed

"With pleasure" Jack grinned firing them and blowing both Scourge and Lynx off the building

"Get in!" Jessabel exclaimed throwing down the ladder

As Axel was climbing up it Scourge quickly appeared again and tried to spin dash him but missed

"Oh that's it; I've had it with you!" Axel exclaimed switching Silvertooth into its gun state and aiming at Scourge as he tried to spin dash him again

"Time for you to slow down" Axel grinned firing a bullet at Scourge

The bullet went flying at scourge and nipped him across the leg causing him to go flying out of his spin dash and face first into the road below

"TAU, blow the building!" Axel exclaimed as Jack hovered the Borealis off the roof and out of the blast radius

"Detonation in, five, four, three"

"What's that beeping sound?" Fiona asked

"Two, one, detonation" As the build was demolished leaving nothing but rubble in its wake and one beat up Destructix crew

"And that is how we deal with a gang!" Jack exclaimed laughing as they made their way towards New Mobotropolis

"TAU, status of the vault?" Jack asked switching to auto pilot

"Vault is one hundred percent stable and is hidden, judging by time you shall be clear to return in twenty four to forty eight hours, until then I shall as you say 'house hunt'" TAU said

"God, Lynx's lighting seriously packs a pounding" Axel said lying back and trying to get some sleep

"We'll be back in new Mobotropolis in about two hours, I'm curious to see if Quack is going to get up you after this" Jack laughed

"I don't really give a damn about doctor's orders right now" Axel sighed


	10. Chapter 10: Battle Plans

FT chapter 10

As the Borealis came within reach of Castle Acorn the trio of them were able to spot Sally was outside waiting for them again just like it had been earlier. The landing pad was still in place and Jack began to set the jet down on it.

"You guys alright?" Sally asked helping them out

"Yeah, we had to blow the building to try and get them off our back" Jack grunted

"You blew up a building?" Sally asked confused

"It was empty and we were the only ones occupying it so really no harm was done" Axel replied limping out

"Hey, I heard about what happened!" Sonic exclaimed as he came running up the path

"How did you hear about it?" Axel asked

"It appears several news networks are on site of where the explosion took place, numerous reports suggest that they have found the Destructix transport vehicle located nearby" TAU explained appearing

"Great so that confirms that, TAU what's our next move after we return to the vault?" Jack asked

"I would recommended that we asses our options and return here, returning to Metal City right now is a bit of a risk until we find a new and very secure location" TAU replied

"I can't believe I didn't see this coming" Axel sighed in frustration

"Don't beat yourself up over it, you couldn't have" Jack said pulling out TAU's computer drive

"Now if you could excuse me, I need to go set up TAU's drive again" Jack said making his way inside the castle

"You look like you've had a bit of shock judging by your smell" Sonic pointed out

"Lynx hit me with some of electricity, the amount I took should've killed me but I guess I just managed to pull away in time" Axel sighed making his way inside followed by Jessabel and the others

"Hey kiddo, go help out Jack would you?" Axel asked

"Okay then" Jessabel said running over to catch up with Jack

"So this confirms Scourge and his crew are back" Sally sighed in frustration

"Well, the fact that they've sided with Mogul and his group makes this harder" Sonic said sitting down

"We really need to be careful where we move ourselves with this, one wrong move and its game over" Axel said leaning forward

"So, do we just sit here and let them go on a crime spree?" Sonic asked in frustration

"No, we start drawing them out one by one, speaking of which, TAU" Axel said

"Yes Axel?" TAU asked appearing

"Any sign of them near this low profile lounge you speak off?" Axel replied

"Nothing yet, but I have something that you may want to view" TAU replied projecting a screen

"This is from the prison" Sally remarked

"TAU, what are you showing us?" Axel asked looking at the screen

"NICOLE allowed me access to the video feed from the prison and I took the opportunity to look through the footage prior to Scourge breaking out" TAU explained as the footage began to play in black and what

"_Yo guard, do you have any decent reading material, I'm bored outta my brains here_!" Scourge exclaimed but not getting a response from the guard

"_Useless idiot"_ Scourge spat lying down on his cell bed

"TAU where is this exactly going?" Axel asked

"Keep watching" He replied back

As the footage kept playing something that appeared to be a piece of paper flew into Scourge cell through the bars in the top side of the wall. He got out of his bed and walked over to take a peek at what had just flown in, he then picked up the paper and folded it open, Scourge turned around with a grin on face suddenly showing

"How long was this before the prison breakout?" Sally asked

"Approximately one hundred and twenty seconds prior" TAU replied as the video kept playing

After a few moments had passed the two minute mark went up and nothing happened in the video at first but then the wall was suddenly smashed open and caused a black substance to go everywhere

"_You finally took your time Mogul_" Scourge remarked as he caught his leather Jacket and changed out of his orange prison jumpsuit into it and putting his red glasses on, the alarm sounded and guards could be heard making their way towards Scourges cell

"_I planned it so it would be like this, let us leave Scourge_" Mogul laughed

"_With pleasure, I trust your friend knows what to do_" Scourge remarked walking out the door as the Camera went dead

"TAU, rewind to the last frame" Jack instructed as he walked into the room

"What the hell is that thing?" Axel asked as they saw what appeared to be a long black arm oozing with the strange tar substance the guards had been mentioning earlier in the month

"Mogul's apprentice no doubt" Jack remarked

"Since when does Mogul have apprentices" Sonic stated in a confused tone

"Ever since we returned from the Eggfleet someone sent us a mysterious video of Mogul and Scourge meeting and Mogul mentions his apprentice during it" Axel explained

"I would not recommend going after Mogul if that's what he has got waiting for us" Sally said leaning back into the couch

"I'm sick and tired of playing cat and mouse; we need to make a plan!" Axel exclaimed in frustration

"Agreed" Jack said sitting down next to him

"Well know this, we are here to help" Sonic said cheerfully

"Thanks" Axel chuckled

"I would wait until morning to plan anything through, it's really late and we should get some rest" Sally yawned

"Fine, but first thing in the morning we figure out what to do" Axel said getting up

"Very well" Sally replied shaking his hand

NEXT DAY

"Well, now that we're all here we can begin" Sally said sitting down at a round wooden table

"This is what Jack and I have come up with so far, TAU bring up that 3D render of Metal City" Axel said leaning back in his seat and playing around with a tooth pick in his mouth

"At the moment all signs point towards the Destructix are operating out of Metal City, for what purpose that's yet to be seen but what we can confirm is that they've been broken up and have to run black operations and so forth by themselves to reduce suspicion among the people" Jack began to explain as the render zoomed in on the cities City Business District

"So far we can confirm this is the area they are operating in and under strict conditions as well, so far they haven't managed to alert the police or any form of authority in the city, this supports my earlier theory of them working by themselves" Jack continued to explain

"I would see this tactic working, split up your numbers to lower your chance of discovery" Charles said, he wanted to take part in the meeting as only him and Rotor were concerned with the return of Mogul and the party he had formed as Elias wasn't as concerned and kept putting the issue aside

"Exactly, the other problem is that the area seems to have some sort of jamming device, it's only blocking out any form of view from the sky but is allowing normal devices such as video cameras and phones to work without a problem which suggests some sort of atmospheric emp device is enabled around this part of the city" Jack finished explaining as parts of the render flashed green

"Now this is what we think might cause one of the Destructix to show themselves" Axel started to explain as the render zoomed out to showing both the CBD and outskirts of Metal City

"We need to find a way to alert them to some random location that will draw one of them out and force them to come to it, judging from the video TAU showed us on the way back from here, they were looking for something but it just wasn't there, which is could possibly be this" Axel explained pulling out a bright blue relic with a red centre at the top

"It appears to be something that Mogul requires for his device to begin working, I matched its design with the orb's schematics and it appears to be a perfect fit for it, if we can create a replica of this and make it extremely believable we might just be able to get a Destructix member to show himself" Axel continued as he threw the Relic onto the table

"Interesting, it appears to be some sort of old Echidna relic" Rotor said amazed as he looked closer at it

"I've had TAU run a few scans on it and it appears to be that it's giving off some sort of high electric current, it's gotta be the power source for the orb" Jack said

"NICOLE, do you think you can create a replica of this?" Sally asked her

"It shouldn't be a problem, in fact, TAU would you be able to help me out with it?" NICOLE asked shyly

"I shall be able to assist you" TAU replied floating over next to her

"Alright, go get started now, we can't afford to waste anymore time" Sally instructed as Sally and TAU nodded and ran off

"Excellent, now there is one other matter to discuss, TAU bring up what Sally and Sonic saw yesterday" Axel instructed as the still frame from the security footage appeared cleared up and zoomed in

"We believe that whatever the hell this thing is, is the thing that broke Scourge out of prison" Axel said leaning forward

"What is it?" Tails asked in confusion

"That's the thing, we don't know, so far it appears that all the evidence tied to this thing has mysteriously vanished except and any video tapes recording this have been wiped but somehow this file was still up which means whoever was taking them down had forgotten the digital copy, TAU bring up the other file" Jack instructed as the one from Scourge and Mogul's meeting began playing for a few minutes and ended

"Also we find he makes several mentions to an apprentice which suggests he's training someone to take command as well we believe this to be the person giving the Destructix their orders on what targets to hit" Axel said

"So what do we have any knowledge of what Mogul's plan really is?" Sally asked looking at Axel

"No but if we can capture and pick off the Destructix members we may learn something along the line" Axel replied

"It's risky, but if it gets us closer to finding out his plan I suppose it's worth the shot" Sally said cautiously

"We still need to be careful about this, no doubt Scourge is aware that we're making moves against him" Sonic said putting his feet up on the table

"What about outside contacts such as the Chaotix and Knuckles, have we heard from them?" Sally asked looking at Sonic and Tails

"No we haven't been able to get through to anyone" Tails replied

"What about you Axel, any outside people?" Sonic asked

"Only suppliers and those who can give us access to military grade equipment but no one who'll be able to help us" Axel sighed

"I suppose we'll have to work with what we've got then" Sally said leaning back

"Elias isn't going to like this Sally" Rotor said looking at her

"I know that Rotor, but I don't want to sit by whilst Mogul is up to something" She replied in frustration

"That's understandable, besides I believe we're here to try and keep him off your back" Charles replied winking at her

"Just out of curiosity, do you have any spies in Metal City at the moment?" Jack asked curiously

"We have a few why?" Rotor replied

"I have reason to suspect that whoever sent us the mysterious video with Mogul and Scourge might be with you guys" Jack said loading up the email they got

"V, who has that signature again?" Rotor asked looking at Charles while rubbing his chin

"Wait, Vesper!" Charles exclaimed in confusion

"But don't the records say that a agent of that name is currently M.I.A presumed dead?" Rotor asked pondering at the thought

"Well she was sent to infiltrate the Yagyu clan during the uprisings but I suppose it's possible that she is still alive" Rotor replied

"Okay someone remind me, since when did we send people to infiltrate clans and try and keep them in there?" Sally asked in confusion

"This was a while back Sally whilst you were still a toddler, the ninja clans began an uprising threatening the dragon kingdom in the process, we sent several spies back in but most of them died sadly, but we managed to get a few in and one of those was Vesper" Charles explained

"So was she like the best we had or something?" Sonic asked confused

"Indeed, she was our top agent but when we stop getting reports back from her, we feared the worst had happened, but we haven't found a body at all since then" Charles sighed

"We need to find her, she'll have a lot of information on what we need to know, what clan was she charged with infiltrating?" Axel asked looking at Charles

"The Yagyu, we believed she had the strongest chance of sneaking into it un-noticed and it was successful apart from the fact we haven't heard from her in ages but today has bought us hope that she is alive" Charles said

"Axel, do you suppose this could be the person who tried to take Silvertooth a few weeks ago?" Jack whispered

"It's possible, I was a bit confused when I heard the ninja talk, it sounded more feminie but the tone was strongly male" he replied back

"Well the other thing to is that she seemed to know our email pretty well, we only put that information to clients" Jack replied

"So she could possibly help us then" Jack whispered

"Most likely" Axel replied back as Charles and the others had stopped babbling

"Okay, so this is our plan, we flush out the Destructix one by one until we have enough information on Mogul's plan; from there we will proceed to assault the battle bird armada since we know they share a part to play in this entire ordeal" Sally stated

"Agreed, if we have any hope of getting to Mogul the BBA will be a problem for sure" Axel said standing up

All of a sudden the meeting room doors opened up and Elias came storming through

"Would you mind telling me what is going on sister!" Elias exclaimed

"Helping save the world as usual" Sally retorted with little care in her voice

"I told you, they can't be here for this long, the people are nervous as it is!" Elias exclaimed

"Father's temper at its finest" Sonic smirked

"Listen you and I both know right from wrong but just because a small portion of people are worried means we can control it, I already have NICOLE fixing up problems and more people are feeling safe again!" Sally exclaimed slapping Elias across the face to try and bring sense to him

"Elias, I know being king is hard but for once listen to me and help me take care of Mogul" Sally said trying to get Elias to understand

The room was quiet for a few minutes, Elias confused and frustrated with everything that had happened and at the speed it had as well. The fact that the entire thing had been happening so fast made him confused and thus clouding his judgement as if he should help or if he shouldn't

"Fine" Elias replied

"Thank you" Sally said hugging him tightly

"I trust you have a plan set in motion?" Elias asked Axel as he nodded in response

"Good, I trust you will be able to explain everything at a later date?" Elias asked Axel again

"Yes, Sally will be able to give you the quick run down version later, TAU how are you and NICOLE going? Axel asked

"Our progress is steady but we have managed to complete approximately twenty five percent of the model, the rest will take another hour to complete, also local video feeds have suggested that all news crews have cleared out, A crime scene has been set up but it is un-attended" TAU replied

"Alright thanks for the heads up, we need to go back and access the vault so we can get our stuff out" Axel said to Jack as he nodded in agreement

"Gives me a chance to test out the new engine" Jack grinned

"You put in a new engine?" Axel asked in confusion

"As I said the other day, I can get a lot done when I'm not interrupted" Jack retorted

"I take it you plan on coming back here I suppose?" Sonic asked jokingly

"Yeah, until we find a better hiding place in Metal City, we're stuck here" Axel replied

"I don't suppose you guys need help moving more of your stuff here?" Tails asked

"We might need some extra help, why?" Jack replied curiously

"I have the Tornado ready to fly if you guys want some help, it should be able to hold most of the cargo that won't fit in yours" Tails replied

"I don't see why not, but the only problem is that if we both land someone is sure to notice and perhaps even the Destructix will come back again" Axel said cautiously

"Hmm, What if we watched from the sky while you guys get your gear, that way if they come in we can help out" Sonic suggested

"That sounds like a good idea" Jack replied

"Ok, so now we head back for one more trip, let's just hope we don't get our butts handed to us again" Axel said getting up and making his way to the door followed by Jack, as Tails and Sonic zipped off to the Tornado leaving the others to finish up

"With this new engine, how long will a trip take?" Axel asked

"It should take us at least thirty to forty minutes but if we get a tail wind, it might be faster" Jack laughed

"I want this to be quick and clean so we can get out and make it back without a fight this time, TAU establish a communications link with the Tornado" Axel instructed

"Link established" TAU said appearing

"Tails you got us?" Jack asked putting on his ear piece

"We've got you loud and clear" Tails replied as the sound of the Tornado's engine started to roar in the background

"I'm sending you the coordinates for where Axel and I are headed, keep over watch on that area and let us know if anything heads our way" Jack instructed as they both hopped into the cockpit of the Borealis

"Yeah yeah, we know the rest" Sonic retorted as Jack started up the engine and proceeded to take off moments later

"Can you try and not get into a fight this time" Jessabel laughed over the com

"We'll see what happens" Axel replied


	11. Chapter 11: Retrieval

FT Chapter 11

As the group made its way over Metal City, Jack and Axel were paying close attention to the ground beneath them trying to keep an eye out for any unwanted company nearby since they were both confident that the Destructix would linger around the area until enough time had passed.

"Tails, what's the status on your end?" Axel asked over the com

"Nothing on our side so far, you guys should be clear for landing" Tails responded

As the Borealis began to descend on a nearby rooftop, Jack and Axel looked at what remained of the old apartment complex which they had lived in for so long. It was nothing but rubble with chunks or it sticking out, police tape had been setup below but no police units were in the area suggesting that they were just now keeping the area under lock down

"Those explosives packed one hell of a punch" Axel remarked

"Yeah and the smell of the sulphur is still lingering" Jack said sniffing around

The pair got out of the Borealis before heading down they headed down the nearby emergency shaft on the building they landed on. The street around them was quiet as if no one was even living in the area only the sounds of leaky pipes and paper flying over the place was being made.

"Its way too quiet" Jack remarked as the pair went through an alleyway

"This is the outskirts but still it is way too quiet for this area, Tails are you seeing anything from up their?" Axel whispered into the com

"I can't see anything, Sonic jumped and landed on a rooftop; he's running around trying to keep an eye on things from ground level" Tails replied

"Alright, we're nearing the vault so try and just keep an eye on the area around us" Axel replied back as the pair arrived at the remnants of the building they lived in

"So how on earth are we meant to locate a vault under this pile of rubble?" Axel asked looking at Jack

"Give a moment and let me show you" He replied pulling out a keypad from his pocket

He flicked it on and began punching in numbers one by one. Eventually a huge section of rubble disintegrated to reveal the location of the vault.

"Why didn't we put something like this on all of our doors?" Axel asked making his way over

"Two of those cost three million apiece, plus this was just when we had some of the bigger missions coming through so you can see why" Jack retorted

As they got to the entry of the vault they bent over to look at what appeared to be a giant metal door with just a handle on it, Jack grabbed it and started undoing it so he could open the door

"Why out of all things do we have one basic door" Axel sighed

"Because, we just do" Jack retorted as he pulled it open

Inside the vault was massive, it was just one giant room with everything they had either own or collected throughout the years as mercenaries. At the front were their packages which they had ordered a few nights ago on the trip back and judging by what they saw, both the boxes were intact and hadn't been damaged.

"Guy's, something fast is heading your way!" Sonic exclaimed over the com

"What is it?" Axel asked looking at Jack

"I don't know who it is, but you guys seriously need to hurry up or else we're gonna have a problem on our hands!" Sonic replied

"Sonic, get over here n-"

"Now?" Sonic guessed as he appeared

"Ok that was fast" Jack remarked

"Listen, take these two boxes back to the jet and throw them in the boot, it is important they get there, we'll hold off whoever's coming, got it?" Axel said placing them Sonics hands

"Got it" He replied before zipping off

Jack and Axel quickly hopped out of the vault and made sure to shut it as they got out. Within seconds the pair noticed that the air around them became very electric and static

"Only one person I know off can make the air this static" Axel stated drawing Silvertooth

"Axel watch out!" Tails yelled over the com as Axel was suddenly hit by a blast of lighting sending him into a wall

"Hehehe, this is gonna be fun" Lynx smirked as he came out of the shadows with lighting fluxing all over his hands

"Sneaky bastard, I'll give him that" Axel groaned as he stood back up

"I would be as so kind to finish you just by myself, but I've got a little help waiting for me" Lynx grinned was two lightning bolts hit the ground around him causing a strange black tar to appear

From both pools of ooze came a pair of metal hands that appeared to be trying to claw their way out, as the seconds went by the ooze eventually began to take shape and parts of metal armour appeared over its body. By the end of it, they were standing tall and ready to attack

"How the hell did he do that?" Axel exclaimed in confusion

"My own personal guard, courtesy of my new boss, now attack them!" Lynx exclaimed as the creatures came charging at the pair.

Axel managed to dodge the punches coming from one of the creatures while Jack did as well, eventually Lynx came into the fight throwing lightning bolts all over the place causing the pair to watch out for him as well. Mysteriously through Sonic wasn't responding even through enough time had passed for him to return and help out suggesting he could be occupied with someone else.

"This is just crazy, we aren't even thinking of how to deal with this!" Jack exclaimed as the fight had stopped for a few seconds as everyone thought of what to do next

"I may have an idea; do you have any explosives on you?" Axel asked

"A few sticky grenades and three lots of C four, why?" Jack replied

"If we can plant some C four on those golems or whatever the hell they are, they might just explode leaving Lynx by himself and giving us an open window for a head on attack" Axel explained

"Just give me the word" Jack winked pulling out his explosives

All of a sudden the creatures came charging again and hit Jack right on and flung him right into the ground, but as he went flying he was able to quickly attach a C four packet to its chest plate. Axel was able to swipe the other packet that Jack had dropped and quickly jump over the golem as it went to punch him and placed the explosive on its back.

"I don't think so!" Lynx exclaimed sending a lightning bolt hurdling towards Axel

As the lightning bolt impacted Silvertooth he didn't feel a thing, for a moment it was quiet when Axel noticed that Silvertooth's blade was glowing a teal blue colour and flickering electricity off the end

"What in the..." Axel said confused

"That can't be, how is that, I don't even" Jack blundered in amazement

"Alright, let's see what this can do" Axel said readying his blade for a strike on Lynx

"So what if your blade resists my lighting, I'll just hit you head on!" Lynx said manically as he started firing electric bolts at Axel

As Axel was charging up to Lynx, he kept Silvertooth in front using its new found ability to absorb Lynx's incoming attacks. Every step he got closer he gripped the blade tighter and thrust it upwards hitting Lynx in the chest and sent him flying into the sky before he came back and hit the ground. At the same time Jack had detonated the explosives destroying the golems in the process before they faded back into ooze

"I think the tables are even now" Axel grinned as Lynx got back up

"Fine, even without the golem's I'll still beat you" He said manically throwing lightning bolts all over the place as Axel and Jack dodged them

"Jack, get back to the Borealis and fly over when I say!" Axel instructed

"But why?" Jack exclaimed back

"Just do it, I'm about to try something using this lightning" He remarked thrusting the blade at Lynx but he dodged

As Jack went off it was just Axel and Lynx left, before Lynx got another round of bolts in he was hit in the gut before being punched across the face and kicked into a brick wall.

"NO MORE, I WILL KILL YOU!" Lynx yelled this time just manically sending lightning all over the place missing or hitting Silvertooth causing its power to grow even more

"Lynx, you are finished!" Axel exclaimed as he charged up to him and thrusted Silvertooth skywards hitting Lynx straight on in the chest and releasing the charged energy into his body through a gunshot causing Lynx to be shocked as his body wasn't able to endure the amount of electricity sent threw it.

"No... I...I can't lose... I'm fully... Lightning" Lynx said just barely able to stand on his feat

"Lightning my ass" Axel said as he sprinted and threw a punch at Lynx across the face knocking him out

As Lynx fell to the ground Axel watched as Silvertooth changed back to normal with the extra energy dispelled through the gun shot.

"How did you do that?" Axel asked himself looking at Silvertooth trying to figure it out but his train of thought was interrupted by the Borealis hovering over head

"So, what's this about a fancy trick you were gonna pull off" Jack said joking

"Too risky, I've only just learnt that Silvertooth can do this, it's better off not trying to do anything extreme" Axel said as he climbed onto the Borealis and went to sit down in the cockpit dragging Lynx with him and throwing him in as well

"Fair enough, Tail's you and Sonic meet us back at the castle, we need to talk to Sally and the others about this" Jack instructed over the com as they pulled away

"Ok, we'll see you there" Tails responded

"Let's hope your new 'friend' can bring us some much needed information" Jack said as turned the aircraft in the direction of

"He better or else we just wasted a fight on nothing" Axel grunted


	12. Chapter 12: Interrogation

FT Chapter 12

Since Axel and Jack's capture of Lynx during their fight in Metal City and the return to New Mobotropolis, they had noticed that Lynx had been extremely paranoid about everything around him, as if someone was watching him but they weren't able to find out what it was. They had been planning on interrogating him for the last few days but Lynx wasn't being exactly cooperative. Since then they had been staying at the castle living in the spare room

"We really need to get information out of Lynx if we have any hope of finding out what the Destructix are up to" Jack said flipping through TV channels trying to find something to watch that wasn't a news report

"Well, once your gift for him is ready, it shouldn't be a problem" Axel remarked grabbing a cloth and rubbing it across the detached barrel of a sniper rifle from his package

"God, every channel is reporting on what happened the other week, why can't they just shut up about!" Jack exclaimed

"It's the Media, they don't shut up about anything" Axel remarked sarcastically

"Why not just work on one of you gadgets?" Jessabel asked throwing a rubber ball against the wall

"I would, but most of my stuff is in the vault, still too risky to go get it all and with all of this media attention it's even harder" he grunted

"Give it another week, maybe two" Sally remarked walking into the room

"Hello to you to" Axel said

"Lynx is still being a pain" She sighed

"Wait an hour and you'll be able to get a reply from him with ease" Jack laughed

"What's he going on about?" Sally asked confused

"He's making a truth serum to try and get him to talk, he used it a while back, but there were some unintended, side effects" Axel replied

"Side effects?" Sally asked

"Oh you know, the usual" Jack replied

"The usual being?" Sally asked again trying to get an answer out of the pair

"Stuff like permanent brain damage, cardiac arrest" Axel replied cocking an eyebrow

"Organ failure, paralysation, you know, just the usual" Jack said

"Right" Sally replied sarcastically

All of a sudden Sonic zipped into the room followed by Tails who looked relatively confused about something

"We're not interrupting are we?" Tails asked hastily

"Nothing important, why what's up?" Axel asked looking at the pair

"It's NICOLE; she says that you guys might want to see something she found" Sonic replied

"How important is it?" Jack asked leaning his head over the couch to look at the pair

"Judging by the way she asked, very important" Sonic replied

"We'll be there in a..." Axel's reply was interrupted as the pair ran off

"Minute" Axel sighed, putting the barrel he was polishing on the table

"Are you coming too?" Jack asked Sally as the group of them got up and headed for the hallway

"Nah, I gotta go clear up a few things, I'll join you guys later" Sally replied walking off down the right path of the hallway whilst Axel and Jack took the left whilst Jessabel followed

As they walked down the hall Axel noticed that a crowd had started to gather outside the castle but ignored it thinking it was just a group of people wanting to inquire about what had been happening over the last couple of days. As they walked into the meeting room, TAU appeared alongside NICOLE who was already in the room alongside Sonic and Tails.

"You called for us" Axel remarked

"Yeah, you may want to see this" Sonic replied as the monitor turned on revealing a map of Metal City

"The other day, TAU and I were doing some scanning around Metal City to try and locate another member of the Destructix but instead we found this just moments ago" NICOLE stated

The video on the monitor began playing and showed Scourge was leaning on the side of a pay phone booth while taking a phone call on the pay phone at the same time. He stood their tapping his foot and playing around with a coin in his hands just listening to whoever he was speaking to

"So, they're back already?" Scourge asked as the phone murmured with a voice

"Alright, we've got enough to handle the pair, it shouldn't be a problem" Scourge replied confidently but immediately showed his serious face again

"Calm down, if we don't get them with plan A then plan B shouldn't be a problem, just be their when they return and the job will be done, goodbye!" Scourge exclaimed slamming the phone and running off

"So, all we saw was Scourge and have a very angry phone call with someone" Axel sighed in frustration

"It wasn't just anyone, it was someone who was working for Mogul" TAU replied as a map of the city came up on the monitor

"I was able to back trace the call's origin point and found out it was coming from Mogul's residence" NICOLE explained when Axel's eyes suddenly burst open

"His apprentice" He remarked without hesitation

"It appears so, whoever this apprentice is, there magic is extremely different to what we've faced in the past, but this is all we've been able to find" NICOLE said

"Alright, keep at it, Jack is your little gift for Lynx ready yet?" Axel asked as Jack checked the time on the clock

"Just about, give it ten more minutes and we'll be ready to talk to Lynx without a problem" He replied grinning

"Okay, until then I'm going to get a bit of rest, just wake me when you're ready" Axel said as he walked off down the hall

45 minutes later

Axel and Jack had arrived at the cities prison and we're taken to where Lynx was being held for interrogation, the pair looked through the two sided mirror as Lynx looked around the room confused at what was going on.

"Let's just hope this works" Axel said gripping the vile of truth serum that was in his left hand

"It will and just in case anything goes wrong, I'll stay here and keep an eye on him from this side" Jack explained as Axel walked out of the room and proceeded into the interrogation room. He quickly grabbed a paper cup from the water cooler nearby and poured the Serum in before Lynx could notice

Axel's POV

Lynx gave me a sharp look as I came in to the room and didn't break his eye contact with me, as if he was trying to aggravate me in some way or form. I sat down placing the cup full of the serum in front of Lynx hoping he would take the bait during the interview

"So, this week just keeps on getting better" I said coking an eyebrow

"I'm not saying anything" Lynx replied in cliché form

"Listen, you're not getting out of here just yet, so why not have a drink?" I asked pushing the cup further in front of him, his eye looked at the cup and kept looking at it, I had asked the guards since yesterday not to give him access to a drink since he wouldn't want to take the bait as easy as I expect it to

"Fine" He replied, hastily grabbing the cup and skulking it down, now I've got him right where I want him to be

"Feel better?" I asked sarcastically

"Is that all you dragged me in here for to take a drink?" He asked violently

"No, I have a few questions to ask you, my first being, what is the Destructix up to?" I asked knowing he would reply

"Hunting, for relics and finishing you off at the same time!" He exclaimed but hastily covered his mouth, looks like the serum is doing its work

"These relics being?" I asked raising an eyebrow

"He didn't explain to us, all he said was collect and ask no questions" this was working better than I thought, maybe I can squeeze a few others things out of him

"Well that settles non-personal questions, now let's get to the more personal stuff" I remarked leaning further back on my chair

"What does the Destructix plan to do next?"

"Simian and Drago are working on a project to help with the discovery of the relics, Scourge and Fiona have their own agenda to attend to whilst everyone else is still un-accounted for" Lynx replied, this time not covering his mouth knowing he had been beaten

"What else?" I exclaimed

"The creatures that aided me during the fight, they we're of his origin, I had no control but he commanded them" Lynx replied but this time he was nervous

"Who is he?" I asked curiously

Lynx started to laugh, as if this was all a joke

"Hehe, you obviously aren't as good as we thought, a storm is coming Axel and I can tell you that you and your friends, they're not prepared for it" he explained laughing even harder

"Jack, what the hell is wrong with him?" I asked over the com

"Nothing, his vital stats are fine, this is something psychological, but still it isn't right" Jack replied

"The BBA, they have a much larger part to play and with Eggman out of the picture, things are much more complex than you can understand" He replied still laughing like a maniac, this isn't a good a sign

"Jack, something isn't right, check his stats again" I asked gripping Silvertooth

"His body is fine, it's his mind, something has snapped, I would strongly recommend getting the hell out" he replied as I got up and Lynx broke his cuffs

I quickly pulled Silvertooth out and blocked his attack; he was only able to use his speed since his electric rods were removed. He lunged at me but missed and smashed into the wall instead as I switched Silvertooth into its pistol form and started firing concussive rounds at him.

"Jack, get the hell in here!" I exclaimed firing at Lynx

"What's the matter, can't handle a little fight" Lynx said, still laughing like a maniac

"What the hell did Mogul do to you" I murmured

He came lunging at me again and managed to sock me one right in the cheek but I quickly retaliated hitting him in the chest with Silvertooth and firing a concussive shot into his chest, sending him flying into the roof of the room.

"Perfect timing" I remarked as Jack came into the room

"Thanks, bought some shockers with me to try and constrain him" He replied as Lynx threw the table at us but missed

Jack sprinted towards Lynx whilst I provided him with cover fire and managed to make my shots count by hitting Lynx in the head. As Jack slid under Lynx he quickly stuck three little black balls to his chest which sent an electric shock through his body knocking him out.

"Well, that was easier than expected" I said getting my breath back

"Yeah, something must've made him crack to do that" Jack replied doing the same thing

"What the hell happened in here?" Sally exclaimed as she came walking into the room which pretty much everything had been thrown all over the place

"Long story short, Lynx lost his marbles and attacked us" I replied sheathing Silvertooth

"Well, did you get anything out of him?" She asked

"We did and it was definitely worth the hassle" I laughed

"I suppose it's better than nothing, I guess I'll see you guys back up at the castle then" She replied walking off

"Yeah, see ya" Jack replied

"Come on, we better get moving, I suppose the guards will figure out what happened later" I said looking at Lynx

"Yeah, we need to let the others know what's happened" Jack replied

Even though we did use the truth serum, something was strange about how Lynx described Mogul's apprentice as if he was almost scared by him. If the Destructix we're nothing but just a distraction and this was part of something bigger, I figure it's time we get to the bottom of this.


	13. Chapter 13: The Hanger

FT Chapter 13

"I say it was all Mogul's work, the serum can't cause that type of reaction!" Jack exclaimed

"Well what if it was the Mogul, we would've noticed something strange!" Axel exclaimed back

Since their return from the prison a few hours ago, Jack and Axel were still trying to figure out what had caused Lynx to lose his mind and start attacking the pair. Axel's theory was that the serum had started to make his mind confused and unstable while Jack suggested that Mogul had caused it using his Ixis magic but the two kept bickering about which theory was the correct one.

"I can't see how the serum could've caused this, I tested it on you and you came out fine!" Jack exclaimed this time bringing up a chart of Lynx's brain activity prior to his insanity

"Yes, but remember he's been under Scourge's command, who's not to say he gave Lynx something prior to this!" Axel barked

"Wow, do you two not shut up" Sonic remarked coming into the room to see what all the hassle was

"Not now Sonic!" Axel exclaimed

"Look at the charts, his brain was fine" Jack pointed out

"Umm, can you guys like listen for a moment!" Sonic exclaimed at the pair

"Okay so what if his brain was fine, the serum could've done something that isn't picked up by the scanner!" Axel yelled

Sonic stood at the door as the two yelled at each other but didn't go away; instead he quickly ran around them causing a mini-tornado which caused them to fly up and land on their backsides, causing them to finally shut up.

"Now that I have your attention, Sally, Rotor and the others want to talk to you guys about what happened down in the prison" Sonic said as Jack and Axel stood back up

"Right now?" Axel sighed

"Yes, right now" Sonic said as he darted off

"We'll talk about this later" Axel said as he stormed off out of the room and down the hall way

"I suppose we will" Jack replied with a quiet laugh

While Axel was making his way down the hallway he noticed that the crowd out the front had gotten a bit bigger but still thought it was just the media trying to get in on what had been happening. Eventually Jack caught up to him but the two didn't say much to each other.

"What's so important that you had to interrupt our debate?" Axel asked as the pair walked into the meeting room

"We found something regarding the information Lynx has given us, also just so you two stop complaining about how Lynx went crazy, we can't even find out what caused it" Rotor said

"Fine" Axel and Jack both sighed as they sat down

"What did you find?" Jack asked

"What didn't we, Lynx was right something big is happening in Metal City, I got NICOLE and TAU to run an energy check on the cities power grid and this one specific area is the most consuming out of the city" Rotor explained as the holographic map zoomed in on the most inner region of Metal city

"Why try to build something that's going to emit a high energy reading and expect no one to notice it?" Axel asked

"It's the centre of the entire city and it's the most electric part of town, but still it is suspicious, TAU were you able to find anything else?' Jack asked as TAU appeared

"Something about the building that the signal is originating from is very...bizarre" TAU said cautiously

"Bizarre how" Axel asked

"The building is registered to the former Group Seven special ops team, the warehouse where this signal is originating from is supposedly their store house from what data I can gather" TAU replied

"That must've been what Lynx was talking about" Jack remarked rubbing his chin

"About what?" Rotor asked

"He mentioned that Simian and Dragon had been constructing something, now if this is possibly related to them, then we have little time before it's completed" Jack explained hastily

"Do we even know what the building holds?" Sally asked

"The only record's I've been able to access is that it holds a grade six ground to air cannon" TAU replied

"But why the hell would they be interested in an AA cannon, I thought this was meant to be a device to locate these relics the Destructix keep talking about!" Axel exclaimed frustratingly

"They're improvising" Jack remarked

"And how are they exactly doing that?" Sonic asked confused

"Think about it, AA guns fire rounds at an extremely powerful rate, possibly modifying it to give it some extra strength could launch something like a satellite or something to track these so called relics down" Jack explained

"Do we know of anything else or is this all we got?" Axel asked leaning further back into his chair

"No, for now we're riding dark" TAU replied

"See what else you can get about this place, until then we need to do a bit of research on our own" Axel grinned

"Anyone here want to do a bit of recon?" He asked looking mainly at Sonic and Jack

"Anything that relates to the Destructix, count me in automatically" Sonic replied confidently

"Same goes for me, I think it's time we start doing some damage to these guys" Jack replied

"I think we're all tired of playing cat and mouse with these guys, we need to get on the offensive if we're gonna stop them!" Sally exclaimed

"Glad to see you're all so eager" Axel laughed

"Well, since we've taken out Lynx that cuts it down to four versus all of us so I think the tables are pretty even" Sally laughed

"Alright, when do we want to head off to the city?" Jack asked

"We'll head off at night and stay in town for a few days to see what we can find and if we get enough information whilst we are there, we'll take a different approach" Axel explained

"While you guys are out having fun, we'll try and feed you information from here and no doubt with TAU and NICOLE working together we can get a lot more done than before" Rotor said

"Good luck to us all then" Sally said as they all left the meeting room and went to get ready to spy on the Destructix

Several hours later

The Borealis came within in range of Metal City, the storm surrounding it had been causing havoc during the flight with lightning bolts missing them by a thread. Jack decided to use the storm to as cover to land at a safe house located near the cities central plaza and was close to where the Destructix had been working.

"Man, this place is quiet" Sonic remarked as he looked around the town noticing no people

"Perfect time for the Destructix to do something without anyone noticing" Axel whispered

"This storm is getting worse by the minute" Jack stated as he began to land the Borealis in the safe house garage

"Agreed, but we won't learn anything until we actually get out and find some information" Axel said as he got out of the Borealis and dusted himself off

"So what's the plan now?" Sonic asked

"Jack, you'll stay here and monitor communications and relay whatever you can, Sonic you're with me" Axel replied

"I'll set up a link with the others, good luck out their" Jack said as he walked into the house whilst Axel and Sonic exited through the garage door and made their way to the rooftops

Sonic ran up the wall whilst Axel used the nearby fire escape to reach the roof. Once they were on the roof tops they made their way towards the warehouse where TAU had supposedly located Drago and Simian. Axel was on edge about visiting this place as his heart was pounding harder than it had been. But he kept in mind what was at stake if Mogul's plan was to be completed

"Axel, up ahead!" Sonic exclaimed

"Jack, we've got bodies up here" Axel pointed out as he approached what appeared to be lifeless bodies of some guards

"What's happened to them?' Jack asked over the com

"I'm not too sure, they appear to have a pulse but it's faint" Axel replied as he rolled the body over and felt the guards neck

"Is there anything to point out how they ended up like that?" Jack asked

"Seems like someone hit them in the chest, pretty hard I might had, there are bruises already forming" Sonic told Axel as he pulled up on the guards shirts

"Looks like someone else has a score to settle with these guys just be ready for anything" Axel replied as he pulled out Silvertooth

"Jack, where's the entry?" Axel asked

"Keep heading the way you were going, the entry to the warehouse is about two minutes away from you" Jack replied as Axel and Sonic continued running

The storm had increased with thunder and lightning constantly flashing all over the place. A bolt nearly struck Axel but a nearby lightning road had saved his skin. Eventually the warehouse came in sight of the pair and they quickly lined up against the wall before slowly opening the door and sneaking in on the ramp

"This place is huge!" Sonic whispered in amazement

"Bigger on the inside than the out" Axel said looking around

"Jack, where's this cannon?" Axel asked climbing down a ladder onto the ground

"What...Can't...Storm...Interfering"

"Jack, Jack!" Axel exclaimed

"Gotta be the storm causing that" Sonic said looking around the corner of a create

"Looks like we're on our own for now" Axel said pulling out Silvertooth

"Let's get to work" He grinned


	14. Chapter 14: The Cannon

FT chapter 14

Axel's POV

Sonic and I were sneaking through the warehouse of the supposed group seven which was still a mystery to us and what made this place even more suspicious was the fact that the guards guarding the door had been taken care off. I wonder if we're dealing with this V character that sent us the message

"This place is too big to cover, we should split up" Sonic suggested

"Good idea, I'll continue across the top, you keep running along the ground, we'll cover more distance" I whispered back climbing up the crates

As i reached the top I noticed how long this warehouse was and boy was it long, it seemed to stretch on for ages before I could see any other lights dangling from the roof. I made sure to watch my footing as I ran across them making sure not to slip. Some of the crates felt hollow as if nothing was in them while others felt like a car was inside and these were only small. Eventually I saw a clearing up ahead and could hear people talking

"Drago, Simian" A voice said, as I lifted my head a little to see a robed figure standing next to the pair

"What did you call us here for?" Drago asked crossing his arms

"The progress of the cannon of course"

"It's going well, we haven't had any disruptions and Lynx played his part in buying us some extra time" Simian replied, As the conversation went on I couldn't help but ask myself who is that guy in the robe.

"Sonic, be extremely careful Simian and Drago have someone else here" I whispered over the com

"Got it, I just came across three more guards who had bruises across their chests, similar to the ones out front"

"Alright, let me know what else you find, Jack, can you hear me yet?" I asked

"Yeah I can hear you now, the storm is causing a strong electrical field, I'm coming to the warehouse, and it sounds like you need help"

"Okay, be absolutely quiet when come in, we have someone else here who is meeting with Drago and Simian" I replied

"Understood, Jack out"

I looked up again and noticed that they were all still standing in the centre; I slowly made my way down the crates and onto the ground and quickly hid again but leaned over so I could still see and hear them

"Good, Mogul will be pleased but one matter is still pressing" The robed figure said

"The intruder, we know about her" Simian grunted

"Seems like this bat has come out to play then, I will leave you with some extra protection until she is taken care of, do not let her reach the cannon or you'll regret failing me" The figure said raising his hand

I watched as black ooze appeared on the floor, this time four puddles of it, bubbling all over the place. I switched Silvertooth into its gun state and watched as these slim creatures with extremely long nails formed from the ooze while they were still dripping in the stuff. These looked familiar to the golems Jack and I had encountered during the Lynx fight but still, this is creepy

"Consider this a gift and a warning" The figure snared as he walked off

"I'm heading back to the cannon, you just guard like you always do Simian" Drago said as he walked off being followed by two of the creatures

"I always get all of the fun" Simian laughed as he headed off in my direction

I quickly leaned back against the side of the crate and managed to hide myself from Simian's view as he ran right past me with the two creatures quickly following leaving a trailer of ooze behind them

"Sonic, Jack, watch out for ooze trails, I think Mogul's apprentice might be here!" I exclaimed over the mic

"Wait, what?" Jack exclaimed back

"Four of those ooze creatures were just spawned by a guy wearing a red cloak, it's gotta be Mogul apprentice" I replied

"Ooze creatures, as in from the Lynx fight?" Jack asked

"Yeah, but this time they were much more skinny and agile, I think these things have multiple forms" I replied taking a sample of the ooze and putting it in a small plastic bag

"I'm going after Simian, Jack, you and Sonic need to get to Drago since he's heading for the AA gun, he's got a pair of those creatures with him as well" I replied following the ooze trail

"I've already got eyes on him!" Sonic exclaimed

"I'm just coming into the warehouse now, I've got your position on my GPS, Sonic"

"Alright, good luck to you two" I replied

The trailer seemed to go on for as long as the eye could see, Simian wasn't fast but he was fast enough that he had gotten good ground between me and him. I noticed that two guards were up ahead and quickly aimed Silvertooth at them in its dual pistol form and quickly fired concussion rounds at them, knocking them both out in the process. As I ran pass the bodies I heard the radio click with people talking over it.

"She's here, open fire!" A voice exclaimed

Next thing I knew I could hear gun shots coming from further down the lane, who ever this is, is certainly keeping the Destructix on their heels. I eventually arrived at where the fight had taken place and noticed that a group of five guards were on the ground with cuts across their body.

"Jack, Sonic, we've got more guards down" I said over the com

"That's great and all but we've got our own problems at the moment" Jack replied over the com with gunfire in the background

"What, what's happened now?"

"Long story short, Drago surprised us and now we've got a whole tone of guards firing at us!" Sonic exclaimed

"Hold tight, I'll be right..." All of a sudden I felt someone grab me around the waist and pulled me into a dark corner then I noticed a sword was being held against my neck

"I think it's about time you and I have a little chat" I heard a female voice said coming from behind me

"So, you must be why everyone in here is on a bit of a man hunt" I said giving a quiet laugh

"Listen, Simian is on his way here now, I saw what happened with Lynx and trust me, you won't make it out alive without some extra help" The lady said, I think she's trying to propose a partnership

"What do you want?" I asked

"Well we can either, go back and save your friends or you can stay here and risk dying by Simian's hand, your choice" She replied letting me go

"Fine, I suppose Simian can wait" I replied

"Good, meet me at where your friends are, I'll be there" She replied, I quickly turned around and saw no one

Did I just imagine that entire event or didn't I, I quickly put the event behind me and ran to where Jack and Sonic were holed up against a swarm of guards making sure to take out anything in my way

"Jack, Sonic, how are you guys holding up?" I asked over the com

"We're fine, but someone else is here, I'm noticing guards being picked off one by one and they seem to be starting to face the other way" Jack replied

"Okay, see if you can hold on just a little longer, I'm nearly there"

I ran across the creates sprinting as fast as I could, as I kept running I remembered of what happened with the Lynx encounter with Silvertooth and its reaction to electricity, perhaps I could try and replicate what happened but I could end up killing myself. The light's weren't' strong enough to emit electricity into Silvertooth so I quickly looked for a catwalk that had some sort of electric switchboard or box located near it.

"Jack, are you able to pin point to me where I can find a source of electricity or something like it?" I asked

"I could possibly try, but why?" Jack asked, I could still hear the gunfire in the background

"I have an idea, just tell me where to go" I replied

"Alright, my PDA says the closest electrical source to you is located to your left"

I looked to my left and noticed an electrical box but was high up; I was going to have to throw Silvertooth and do a running jump to pull it out which meant I only had one shot at this.

"Be quick with whatever you're going to do, these guards are now focusing on us again!" Sonic exclaimed over the com

I aimed Silvertooth carefully at the box and then threw it. It went flying through the air before stabbing the electrical box and the next thing was that sparks and bolts were going all over the swords blades whilst the lights were flickering on and off.

"Are you trying to make the room dark or something?" Jack asked

"No, that wasn't what I was intending to do but it might buy you guys sometime" I replied back

A few minutes had passed and the next thing I knew, Silvertooth was pulsing the light blue colour it had been glowing during our encounter with Lynx. It then fell from the box and onto the ground without even me touching it. I quickly jumped down and grabbed it, the electricity flowing through it made the sword have a different feel, it felt much less lighter but I could feel the electric vibe go through my fingers. I quickly darted down the lanes of crates trying to make my way to Jack and Sonic, as I passed each lane I could hear the gun fire getting louder and louder which meant I was getting close. Eventually I saw Jack and Sonic in the distance

"Axel, about time!" Jack exclaimed as I ran towards him

"Yeah, well I had an idea and now I'm about to try it out so stand back!" I exclaimed leaping up into the air and holding Silvertooth in front of me

I plunged it into the ground and pulled the trigger, the next thing I knew bolts of electricity were flying around knocking out guard after guard until all of them were laying on the ground and not even moving, I eventually pulled Silvertooth up but felt pain in my chest. it must've been some feedback from the electricity.

"Impressive!" Sonic exclaimed

"Thanks, but now Drago and Simian are going to be making their way here" I replied breathing heavily

"And you were right" I heard someone say as I saw Sonic go flying past me

Normal POV

"Dragon, Simian!" Jack growled

"You honestly didn't think that what you just did would not go un-noticed did you" Drago smirked as he shoved Sonic and locked him inside a crate

"We know what you're up to!" Axel exclaimed pointing Silvertooth at Simian

"And what would that be?" Simian asked

"You plan to use the AA cannon to launch something that Mogul will use to find what he needs for his damn orb!" Axel yelled back

"Smart ones aren't you, too bad we have to kill you" Drago grinned as he got ready to pounce

"Two on two, can't be that hard to fight, right?" Jack asked nervously

"Well since we are about to take on the muscles of the Destructix, I'm sure we stand a chance of surviving this" Axel replied readying Silvertooth in its gun state

"So, who wants to be first on the chopping block" Simian grinned

As Simian was about to attack, small pellets came rolling across the floor getting everyone's attention before bursting and creating a smoke screen. Within in seconds the area was completely unseeable, Jack and Axel griped each other's hands so they wouldn't get lost whilst Simian and Drago ran into each other. All of a sudden Jack and Axel felt someone pulling them out of the smoke screen and went flying into the ground

"Get up; we don't have much time before the smoke clears!" A voice exclaimed coming from behind them

"Give us a little warning next time" Jack coughed as he and Axel got up and looked at the figure

"I'll explain everything when we get back to your place" The lady sad as she helped Axel up

"A name would be nice" Axel remarked as they started running for the exit

"It's Vesper!" She exclaimed back smashing open the warehouse door which lead to the rainy streets of Metal City


	15. Chapter 15:Old Acquaintace

FT chapter 15

"What the hell did you do to get these guys so pissed off?!" Jack asked as a helicopter came over head bearing a group of enemy robotic commandos

"I did a bit of demolition that was it" She yelled back as they jumped a gap on the rooftops

Since escaping from the warehouse Simian and Drago were sending troops at them non-stop to try and prevent them from getting away.

"So what, did you like destroy half the warehouse or something?!" Axel yelled

"Oh, add another ten percent of it and you'll understand" She replied as a barrage of bullets came flying there way

"We need to get off the rooftops, we're sitting ducks!" Jack exclaimed frantically dodging the rounds

"Axel, Jack, where are you guys?!" Sonic asked over the com

"About time you woke up!" Axel exclaimed

"Listen, get back to the safe house, we'll explain everything!" Jack replied over the com

"Alright, see you there" Sonic said

"Up ahead, there's the city's river" Axel pointed out as the more helicopters came over them

"I say we jump!" Vesper yelled

"Axel, you do know how much of a rubbish swimmer I am, right?!" Jack exclaimed as the distance between them and river became closer

"Do you still have that life-vest thing still built into your vest, don't you?!" Axel asked as he button he jacket

"Yeah, you should as well" Jack replied back as he zipped us his vest

"Well then we'll bloody use it when we start to drown!" Axel yelled back as a bullet nipped his arm

"What about me?!" Vesper exclaimed back

"Just hold onto my arm when we're in the water!" Axel yelled back

As the distance between them and the river decreased, the amount of helicopters and robotic commandos increased making each step deadlier then the last, eventually the lightning bolts from the storm started to get more intense and eventually started to strike helicopters like they were birds out of the sky.

"Why the hell is this storm so bad?!" Jack asked

"I don't know I'm not a scientific person!" Axel barked back

"Guys, incoming fast movers on our six!" Vesper exclaimed as two jets came flying over ahead

"Those are BBA fighters!" Jack pointed out

"The river guys, its right in front of us!" Vesper exclaimed

"Get ready to jump!" Axel instructed as the jets came around for another attack firing missiles on the roof

"Jump!" Jack yelled as they took the leap from the roof

It seemed like a long way was between them when they took the jump, Axel, Jack and Vesper closed their eyes hoping they would land in the water and not the solid ground, after a few seconds or what felt like an eternity to them, they had landed in the rushing river with Vesper still clinging to Axel's arm

"When is this taking us?!" Jack exclaimed trying to stay afloat

"It'll take us into the cities damn, don't worry we'll be fine through, the damn is very expansive so we won't get sucked into the processing plant" Axel replied as the rapids in the river got worse

"Hold on tight!" Axel exclaimed as he pressed on a part of his jacket which made it puff up to be like a life vest whilst Jack did the same so they wouldn't drown as they went down the gushing river

10 minutes later

Jack's POV

I felt drenched and dazed after going down that long ass river, I gripped the grass that my hand was on and noticed that it was morning after hearing cars go by me and that meant the storm must've cleared and then I noticed I must've been out for ages, I stirred a bit before fully coming around to see the sun shining right up into my face. Next thing I knew two people we're coughing as if they had just been chocked

"Axel?" I asked covering my eyes to see around

"Yeah... I'm okay" He replied back coughing

"Vesper?" I asked this time looking down at her as my eyes had adjusted to the sun

"I'm fine... A little dizzy but okay" She replied back getting her balance

"My question is who pulled us out?" I asked looking around

"Yeah, that would've been us" I heard someone reply, I looked up and saw Sonic sitting in a tree alongside Sally who was also sitting on another branch

"What are you doing here, Sally?" I asked

"Well Sonic got a little worried since you guys hadn't called in, so he got me to come all the way over here and help find you guys. Then after a few hours of searching, we found you floating in the lake, you're lucky you were all facing face up at the time" She replied getting down from the tree, I noticed my vest was still a life jacket so I quickly pushed on a part of it to release the air and turn it back to normal

"I heard you guys had a rough encounter last night as well?" She asked

"Yeah, Mogul's apprentice showed himself" Axel replied

"Wait, he was there?" Sally asked hastily

"Yeah, he bought more ooze creatures with him through" I replied

"Why didn't you guys stop him?!" Sally exclaimed

"Because Drago and Simian was with him, attacking them would've been suicide, we were just lucky to get out alive" Axel replied back

"Who's the hitchhiker you picked up?" Sonic asked cocking his head

"I'm not a hitchhiker Sonic; I believe it's been too long since we've last seen each other princess" Vesper replied

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Sally asked cocking her had at Vesper as we all looked at her

"Well, I suppose you didn't receive a message with the letter V attached to it did you?" She asked jokingly

"Wait that was you?" I asked her abruptly

"Yes and might I add that you're people believe that I'm currently dead" Vesper added as Sally's face went from confused to even more confused

"Wait, you're Vesper?" She asked

"None other" She replied

"But, why do you exactly chose to return now after being dead for so long?" I asked her

"Because Jack, we all know what's happening and we know what'll most likely happen if we don't put a stop to it" She replied but she wasn't looking at me when she replied

"I'll explain everything when we get back to your hideout" She added as we made our way up the hill, as we got up it we noticed that we had ended up closer to the city than Axel had originally thought but it was still a long way from where our safe house was

Sally hailed a bus that was just coming by and quickly payed the fair as we bored it before it dashed off, we all sat up the back to try and elude anyone who might be a spy for the Destructix and kept to ourselves. I sat by myself as usual and stretched my legs whilst Axel and Vesper sat on the seat opposite of me and Sally and Sonic in the seat behind me.

"So, how did you guys exactly get out?" Sally asked me

"Ran across the rooftops, avoided military grade gunfire and oh yeah, nearly drowned in the rushing river" I replied back laughing a bit

"Sounds fun" Sally added

"Eh, you didn't miss much, but we weren't able to get the AA gun down so that's going to be a problem" I sighed leaning further back into the chair

As the bus ride went on, I could tell Axel had a thousand questions to ask Vesper as he had issues sitting still with his leg bouncing up and down like a jack hammer. I on the other hand just continued lying back whilst browsing the web on my PDA which I was amazed that it was still working even through it had gone through a river. I looked over my PDA's screen and saw that Vesper was incredibly still for what she had just been through, it's like she hadn't even seen anything

"How's Jessabel doing?" I asked since I knew Axel wouldn't say anything

"She's okay, Bunnie has been taking care of her whilst you guys have been gone, she doesn't seem to mind looking after her really" Sally replied

"Eh, she would make a great mother someday" Sonic added on

"What about Antoine, how's he handling the babysitting gig?" I asked jokingly

"Surprisingly well" Sonic replied

As the time went by I noticed how long this bus trip was going to take us since we did end up pretty far from the safe house. I remembered the first time how Axel and I had actually gone and explored the city instead of being caught trying to sneak out. Of course we were just kids back then and the first place we went to was the arcade and I did have a lot of spare change that I had been saving for a special event but that was close enough for me.

He did have a knack for shoot em'ups through, always beating me at them by like a couple of thousand points, but we still enjoyed it, sure it was long ago but it was better to have a friend than none at that time. Although there was that one time where we had to out run the police because a corner store owner thought we had stolen something but they weren't aware that most of the orphans knew the hidden passages across the city.

About ten minutes later the bus halted at a stop and someone else got on, only this time it wasn't a friendly face, it was Scourge and to my surprise it was only him. He came walking up the aisle and sat at the back on the seat closest to where Axel and Vesper were sitting

"Losers" Scourge remarked putting his feat up on the chair

"Give me one good reason not to get up and put a bullet through your skull" Axel growled at him

"Because, I have something you may want" Scourge snared back at him raising his sun glasses on to his forehead

"Let me guess, information?" I asked slowly moving my hand towards the revolver I had tucked away under my vest

"Clever little dog aren't ya" He replied back,

"What is it Scourge?" Sally asked, I could tell she wanted to punch him but held back her anger

"My boss, quotation marks, says after last night's incident, he wants Drago and Simian gone from the team, I don't agree but I don't have much choice since he is in charge" Scourge sighed

"So, you're willing to give up the location of your own members in order to save your behind" Vesper growled

"If that's how you see it, but yes, he wants them gone" Scourge said looking out the window

"Why not just do it yourself?" Sonic asked

"Because blue, if I do it than I'm not going to be able to control the rest of the team" Scourge replied

"What do we get in return?" I asked, this time gripping the revolver

"You get a little breathing room; I'll give you forty eight hours before hostilities continue, that's if you can take care of Drago and Simian in the next week, until then we'll be at peace but if Simian and Drago aren't gone in that time, well, the end result won't be pretty" Scourge replied

Everyone was nervous looking at each other trying to express each other's answers and replies to Scourges offer, eventually the bus halted

"I need an answer now?" Scourge asked getting up from his chair

"Fine, one week and they'll be gone" Vesper replied

"Good, you'll have their location by tomorrow, goodbye losers" Scourge replied hoping off the bus

"This is crazy; he can't expect us to actually kill the pair can he!" Sonic exclaimed

"We aren't going to kill them" Axel said

"Then what are we going to do with them?" Vesper asked

"We're going to get them to join us" He grinned


	16. Chapter 16: Midnight Assualt

FT Chapter 16

Jack's POV

The bus came to a halt outside the cities shopping complex, this was our stop and we all made our way off the bus and into the busy centre where people were walking all over the place carrying shopping bags and what not, it made me think of what this place looked like when Axel and I had came to the arcade on the same night.

"So where do we go from here?" Sally asked

"Just follow me and we'll be there in a moment" Axel replied as they started walking off

"So, you guys lived here?" Vesper asked

"Yeah, although we actually lived on the outskirts which were kinda run down and desolate, we had to fix up the place we were staying in formally to make it liveable again" I replied as we approached the lift and pressed the up button

"Where exactly is this hideout of yours located if you don't mind me asking?" Sonic asked

"You're about to find out" Axel replied as the lift arrived and the doors opened

Once we were all inside I grabbed a dongle from my pocket and swiped it across the recogniser as the doors shut. The lift began to ascend until the glass window behind us was covered with black and only the lights in the lift kept everything visible. After a few seconds the lift stopped and opened revealing our secondary hideout

"I see you have everything you need in this little space" Sally said while she tried to avoid tripping over wires

"It's not that little, but you get a great view of the city, although we do need to sorta clean up this place sooner or later" I remarked opening the windows to let out all the dust and the smell of old trash

"So this is your secondary base of operations?" Sonic asked

"Pretty much, but give me a moment, I need to see if I can get this working" I replied as I sat down in my computer chair as I tried to establish a link with new mobo, it wasn't easy since I hadn't updated this system in a while so I had that going on my left monitor whilst I tried to connect using my right one

"Any luck?" Axel asked

"Remember the talk we had on the Egg fleet" I sarcastically said as the signal came on line and Jessabel showed up on screen alongside TAU

"Heya!" She exclaimed joyfully

"Hey kiddo, how you holding up?" Axel asked as I continued to click away at my computer

"We're fine, nothing much has happened here" She replied

"I don't mean to interrupt the happy moment, but I need to tell you all something" TAU replied

"Go ahead TAU, I've got a link open in case you want to transport yourself over here" I added as TAU appeared in our room

"I did some more digging for information regarding what has been recently occurring with our fight against the Destructix and Mogul"

"What did you find?" Vesper asked

"Something related the anti-air cannon that the Destructix are interested in" TAU replied as the information appeared on screen

"And that would be?" I asked

"It was part of an operation by group seven known as Skyfall, its purpose was to be used as an electromagnetic pulse device to try and black out a terrorist network located somewhere in the desert" TAU explained

"We've been looking at this wrong" I murmured

"What have we been looking at wrong, Jack?" Axel asked

"We've been looking at the possibility of this being a launcher for something, but what if this is just a way to delay us with an EMP strike" I replied

"I'm not catching you" Sonic added

"An EMP causes extensive technological damage and pretty much disables anything that uses electricity within the blast radius, so it would render everything useless" I added bringing up an animation example

"If we don't act fast, we're going to have a major problem on our hands, TAU what else can you tell us?" I asked nervously tapping my leg

"The only way they can fully re-activate the gun is by acquiring the activation codes which have been locked away for a very long time and the only place that was known to work on the gun was Dycorp" TAU replied

"Dycorp?" Sally asked

"Second biggest technological firm in Metal City, they were asked to create the coding and what not for the gun and that includes the activation codes" TAU responded

As TAU continued explaining I sat further back and wondered why would the Destructix need a EMP gun, sure it could do some damage but still, I don't even know how they would benefit, unless they were planning on clearing way for something but still, what if the BBA wanted it, there arrival during the fight the other day was well timed but and they were there in force as well as sending robotic units our way.

"TAU, see what information you can get on the Dycorp HQ for us, I think I have plan" I instructed TAU

"Right away, I'll see what I can gather" TAU replied before vanishing

"You have an idea?" Axel asked

"Think about it, they had the gun set up so why wasn't it actually turned on?" I asked bringing up a map of the Dycorp building

"So you think they still don't have the codes?" Vesper asked

"It's possible, but if Drago and Simian want them, well they're gonna have to bring in a huge strike force to get in" I replied

"Is the actual building still being used?" Sally asked in a frustrated tone

"It is, but they're currently closed because it's the company's holidays" I replied as I projected the map on the holographic table in the centre of the room

"But how are they going to get in?" Sonic asked

"Simple, the front door" Axel replied

"And also at night as well, going in at day would create too many problems for them" I added

"Something doesn't feel right, it feels like they're giving us a free pass into this" Vesper added leaning further back into the chair

"Even so, we can't afford to throw this opportunity away; it may be the only chance we get at going after two members at once!" Axel exclaimed

While they all argued about what to do I sat back and listened while typing at my computer trying to find more information on this building. It seemed that this company wasn't just 'closed' the military had closed it for various reasons even though they left the power on and everything inside running, perhaps trying to trick people or something but that tactic isn't the most best of choices. I searched further into the database and found there was even more to this building, all the workers had been massacred by a terrorist organisation trying to get their hands on something but even with my hacking skill I wasn't able to get access on the file so maybe there was more to this 'massacre' then what it says. I looked down at the task bar and noticed an email had appeared in my inbox

"Uh guys, Scourge just sent me us an email" I said, opening it up

"I thought he wasn't going to send anything to us until tomorrow?" Sally asked

"Well, judging by what's in it, it looks like there has been a change of plans" I sighed clicking it open

It read

_Hello Losers_

_Don't ask how I got your email Dingo; I have a few contacts in the market, but anyway_

_It seems Drago and Simian are moving out tonight instead of the expected date, since my boss said I was to give you a week long break from our attacks, it's been changed. For it to work you have to take out Drago and Simian tonight or at least make them go away. I'll be there personally to make sure the deed is done but trust me, one wrong move and you'll find yourself in an explosive position _

_Get it done and nothing will happen_

_Scourge_

"Son of a, do we even have any gear?" Axel asked me, sounding extremely frustrated

"We have enough" I replied clicking on the armoury button under my desk

The brick wall next to me flipped around showing the backup armoury I had installed a few months back

"You fit this much, in a brick wall?" Sonic asked

"Pretty much, but I can't fit stuff like rocket launchers and that, speaking of which" I replied getting up and making my way towards the couch

"Vesper, could you move over for a second?" I asked pulling open the side of it, revealing a digital code panel

"Um okay?" She replied confused as I imputed the code flipping the chair cushions around to reveal a little box which I had made personally

"Modification for Silvertooth, had this specially made from the most explosive material in all of Mobius" I stated opening the box and pulling out two magazines

"What are these exactly?" Axel asked as he took them from hands

"They're super combustible rounds, similar to the explosive rounds we used during the rouge leader assignment, these deal damage to almost anything, robots especially and this building is chock full of them" I replied as I opened my draw and pulled out some of new modified emp gloves

"You've been doing a lot of work lately haven't you?" Axel asked me jokefully as I slipped my gloves on

"A lot of work is an understatement, take what you need from the wall guys" I said to the others

Sonic and Sally picked up the Sonic boom hand-cannons but Vesper stuck to her sword and what she had in her utility pouch.

"So you said that this building is full of robot's, mind explaining?" Vesper asked me

"While you guys were all arguing and what not, I did a bit of research and found that this building has a lot more to it than what I previously said" I replied bringing up the document on the buildings history

"About a year and a half ago something happened inside the building, army documents state that everyone in the building was killed by the security robots in the building, but when I tried to access the official document stating what the cause of it was, the document was blocked off, even beyond my skill of hacking" I explained

"So this is something high up, what are the odds that the robots are still active?" Axel asked

"Oh about a sixty to eighty percent chance, these robots were controlled by a terrorist group at the time; it's possible that they might've been re-programmed" I replied

"It's getting dark, we should get moving soon" Sally said looking out the window

"Agreed, but we need a plan, TAU, any suggestions?" I asked as TAU appeared

"I would recommend that you split into group, I've deducted that the target we are after is located on the twentieth floor and this building is about forty floors high, I recommend that you have one group go from the bottom up and likewise with the roof whilst the person who is solo breaks in through the glass windows located on the thirty third floor" TAU responded with a holographic display

"So, who wants to go with who?" Axel asked

"Sally and I will go from the top down" Sonic replied, he sounded rather excited about this

"I'm going in solo, I work better when I don't have distractions" Vesper added

"Alright so that leaves Jack and I to go in through the bottom floor"

"We need to go in on foot, going in with the jet is just going to cause too much of a hassle, it could alert these guys and get them to do a runner" I added looking at the time

"Well then, let's not delay these guys anymore" Vesper grinned

"Vesper, Jack and I will take the rooftops, Sally and Sonic, you guys take the streets but keep a low profile, we don't know if anyone will try and warn Simian and Drago that you are coming" Axel instructed

"We'll head down the fire escape and meet up with you then" Sally said as she and Sonic climbed out the window

"Well then, let us not waste any more time" I grinned


	17. Chapter 17: Dycorp

FT chapter 17

Axel, Jack and Vesper were jumping across rooftops and moving quickly to try and intercept Sally and Sonic so they would meet up at the same time. Drago and Simian had already entered the building and the security droids had already responded to their presence causing a fire fight and preventing them from advancing further into the building.

"Axel, Sonic and I are in position, where are you guys?" Sally asked over the com

"Jack, Vesper and I are at the building but Jack and I are about to grapple it to the roof" He responded

"Alright, want us to ahead?" She asked

"Do it, but be careful we don't know if these guys are already aware of us" Axel responded

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Jack asked Vesper

"Yeah, I'll be fine, just make sure not to get your selves killed" She replied making a leap and flying onto the glass war and gripping onto it with her gloves. Jack had added some gel to it to allow her to climb the building from the outside

"Alright, our turn" Axel said aiming the grappling hook at the roof and pulled the trigger causing the hook to launch and grab hold of the roofs ledge

"See you there" He grinned as the hook started to retract and bring him up

"Wise guy" Jack said with a laugh before doing the same and being dragged up to the roof as well

Axel's POV

The hook finished retracting me to the top and before I knew it Jack soon followed

"Guys, Jack and I are on the roof top and are starting to make our way down, what's your status?" I asked over the com helping Jack up over the ledge

"Sally and I are on the fifth floor, seems like Drago and Simian have already been here, lot's of robot parts but also Battle Bird troops" Sonic responded

"Alright, what about you Vesper?"

"They're on my floor, I'm going to try and pick off these Battle Bird troops off one by one" She replied as the com went dead

Jack and I headed straight for the door but made sure to open it silently so if anyone we didn't know what below wouldn't hear us. We could hear the rushing footsteps of armada troops moving around but that was it

"I'm going on ahead, you want to start from the top down?" I asked Jack as he was about to go into the room below

"Yeah, I'll see what I can find out" He replied before heading in

I continued heading down the stair case but kept aware of the doors next to me as I passed each floor, I was expecting a whole bunch of troops to eventually bust through the door and tackle me but surprisingly they all seemed to be focus solely on finding these codes

"She's here, be on the look out!" I heard Drago yell as it echoed through the building

"Axel, I found something you may want to know" Jack said over the com

"Go ahead, I'm just coming out on the forty sixth floor and no one's in sight so I'm all ears" I replied as I walked inside and turned on a computer

"I was able to pull the records of Dycorp before they shut down and found something very interesting" He explained as I started going through a computer that thankfully had a low level encryption, thankfully Jack taught me a thing or two about hacking just in case I was around

"Interesting being?" I asked as I started going through there project history

"A few months before the company was 'murdered' I found two projects the company was working on which appeared to be related to each other on a massive scale"

"Go on?" I replied as I started to take interest in this

"The projects were both computer based, one was an Artificial intelligence headed by a doctor Baxter , no last name recorded and the other being a virtual intelligence headed by a group called Romeo" Jack explained as I searched up the AI project

"What happened to this doctor?" I asked

"He died a few weeks after the artificial intelligence did some, interesting things, but apart from that, the first project was called the Tactical Automative Unit 300 and the other Project Theta"

"What project was what?" I asked as I continued to browse through the history

"The 300 project was the AI whist Theta was the VI"

"What exactly happened to them?" I asked as I looked out the desk cubical and didn't see anyone coming down the hall

"The AI project history is very... interesting, it started acting up after it was ordered to launch a missile strike at a small city, but they were re-targeted and aimed at a desert, it gets weirder, three weeks later half the weaponry functions that the company had accessed to were mysteriously locked out and then a month later, the AI vanished from their systems, they claimed it was stolen and then doctor Baxter died six weeks later"

"How did he die?" I asked as I took a look at the company's finical records and noticed several payments by the cities military to the company directly

"It's unknown but the two possible answers are that he committed suicide or was murdered, they were never able to determine the cause of death since his body was heavily disfigured, this brings me to the AI and boy, does it have a dark history" Jack replied as I heard the lift doors open

"Search the room, the rat's in here somewhere" I heard Simian yell

"Keep going, Simian just showed up and I'm opening up a download link to our hideout, get TAU to download the rest" I instructed as I pulled out a few semtex claymores and stuck them to the walls

"Okay, I'll make it brief then, pretty much the VI started to express hostile interests to organics, it even took control of military drones and started to kill targets that the military wanted dead, after noticing this for several months they decided to shut it down but the shut down went a bit hay wire"

"As in it killed people?" I asked

"Yeah, it's still active but no one knows where it is now... oh shit " Jack said over the com

"What is it?" I asked as I started to sneak up behind an armada trooper

"Something's going on with the computer, I can't exactly tell what's happening but it looks as if it's deleting everything!" He exclaimed over the com

"What, how the hell is it doing that?" I whispered as I bashed the armada troopers head into the cubical knocking him out cold

"I dunno but... what the hell?"

"Seriously, is that all you're gonna say now" I replied as I took out another two troopers

"A message is on the screen it says, 'the organics of this world are flawed, it is time for the machine to rise and take it', what does that even mean" he grunted as a semtex went off

"Sir, we've got three men down over here!" I heard the trooper exclaim from the hall next to me

"Surprise" I murmured as I smashed the troopers head into the concrete pillar but then felt someone grip around my waist and throw me into the ground

"Son of a..." I groaned as I gripped Silvertooth to reassure myself I still had it

"What's the matter rat, too weak to hold your own ground" He laughed as he threw me into the concrete pillar

"Of course I can, but sometimes a little blood needs to be shed" I said as I made a deep cut across Simian's arm, forcing him to let me go

"You'll regret that boy!" Simian exclaimed as he picked up a cubical wall and threw it at me

"Jack, need your help down here!" I exclaimed as I switched Silvertooth into pistols and fired a few rounds into Simian's chest causing him to fall back

"I would love to, but I've got my own problems up here!" He exclaimed as I heard something whiz past his com

"Why what's going on?" I asked

"Some armada troops just showed up, but so did those damn ooze creatures"

"Which ones?" I asked throwing a flash bang and covering my eyes

"Those really skinny, anorexic, agile ones, I'm calling them creepers if you like it or not" He replied as I took a few shots at Simian

"Hold on, I'll be up in a minute" I said as I fired more concussive rounds at Simian

"You will not escape me that easily!" He yelled as he threw two more desks my way

I dodged them and fired a few rounds at his face but had no luck as he just charged through them and threw me into the ground like a toy doll

"That isn't right" I grunted as I picked myself up and made my way towards the staircase, Simian quickly intercepted me but I retaliated with a few shots to his head and one explosive round into his chest which made him loose his balance and fall over

"Axel, help, now!" Jack exclaimed as I pulled out my grappling hook

"Yeah, coming now" I replied as I fired it at the support beam holding part of the roof up and pulled it down, causing it to collapse on Simian

I made my way for the stairs, when I entered the stair case I aimed the hook up at the roof and latched it's self onto the support beam above, it began to retract and quickly took me up to the floor where Jack was on before I detached it and came into the room guns a blazing

"About time you showed up!" Jack exclaimed as I threw a grenade over the troopers

"Yeah well, Simian happened and what not, speaking of which, bets on the location of the apprentice since these guys appeared?" I laughed as I threw one of those 'creepers' off me and stabbed it through its head before it became nothing but a stain on the floor

"I'm betting fifty that he's on the building next to us" Jack laughed as we felt the floor begin to shake

"Is that an Earthquake?" Jack asked

"No, it's something worse" I grunted as we both watched the floor in front of us break apart and Simian's hand appear

"Oh boy... this isn't good" I sighed as I split Silvertooth back into pistols

"Why are his eyes red?!" Jack asked hastily as Simian jumped and roared like a crazy person

"Just like Fiona and Lynx, his mind has snapped" I replied readying my self

"Great... this should be a ball" Jack sighed as he pulled out his revolver

"Let's find out" I grinned as I fired a few rounds into Simian's face as he let out another rage filled roar

If this is Mogul's work, then this is just gonna be harder than before.


	18. Chapter 18: Blinded Rage

FT Chapter 18

Vespers POV

Quick enough did I find myself caught up in the middle of all of this, I could hear fighting coming from the floor above which must have been Axel and Jack taking on something big. I slowly made my way through the office while also setting up a few trip wires to try and get these guys even more paranoid.

"Search every corner of this room, these codes have to be here somewhere" I heard Drago yell

Seems like these guys got here faster than I expected, I slowly made my way towards the edge of the room to try and avoid these guys from seeing me. I could hear them moving around but they weren't close enough; eventually I passed one of my trip wires and noticed that there was an armada trooper to my right but he wasn't able to notice me

"Someone else here, I can smell it" Drago growled

Great so now that Drago knows I'm here, I'll have to be on my guard even more

"Axel, you there?" I whispered over the com but got nothing but static

"Sally, Sonic, does anyone read me?"

"Yeah we got you Vesper" Sonic replied

"I can't get through to Jack and Axel, something's going on up there and it's pretty loud but Drago doesn't seem interested in it" I said as I heard a trip wire go off

"We'll try and get to you as fast as we can, these robots aren't making it easy" Sally responded as another one of my tripwires went off

"Watch the floor you idiots, that blasted bat is here" Drago smirked

Slowly but surely did the tripwires all go off leaving only Simian and Drago plus a small bunch of Armada troops in the room, I notice one was coming down the aisle I was hiding in

"Sir, I've found someth..." I quickly grabbed his mouth and muffled his voice before bashing his head against the desk, knocking him out cold

"Nighty night" I whispered making my way slowly through the room

"Sir, we've got a casualty over here"

Damn it, they've found the body already, there must've been more units arrive whilst I wasn't looking

"Is he alive?" Drago asked

"No, he appears to be dead"

He must've bled out fast, any who he's dead now and no longer a problem, I decided that I would try and catch these guys off guard and considering that the gel Jack had applied to my gloves was still there gave me an idea.

"General take your men up stairs and see what's going on!" Drago instructed

"Right, you three men with me"

Damn it, Axel and Jack aren't even aware of what's coming their way

"Axel, Jack do you guys read me?" I asked franticly over the com

"What was that?"

Crap, I may have spoken a bit too loud

"Vesper, what's going on?" Axel replied

"Listen, An armada general is coming up to you guys with some back up troops and..."

"Finally found you" Drago grinned as I felt him pick me up by the waist and threw me towards the wall,

"You honestly thought you could hide from us in this small space" He said, what a cocky

"No, but you didn't expect this" I grinned pulling out a detonator and causing part of the floor to fall off resulting in his backup going bye bye

"Now it's just you and me!" I exclaimed sprinting towards him and smashing him in the chest

Drago quickly got back up and charged back at me, I dodged him and retaliated by throwing a few knives at him with only two hitting him across the chest leaving a massive cut

"A few cuts won't stop me!" He growled as I drew my sword

"Yeah, but you know, bleeding out on the other hand might" I added

"That might, but not before I break your neck and with this as well" He growled

Next thing I knew I couldn't see anything but all I could hear was this loud sound that was blocking out my sight, I was blind, literally but all I could feel was something pick me up and shove me up against the wall, I was able to hear voices but that was it

"You can't see without your sonar, so how about you enjoy fighting in the dark for a little while" He laughed

"Damn you!" I exclaimed before I felt my body get thrown against a desk

"Enjoy the last few moments you have left to live little bat" Drago chuckled before I felt something heavy on my neck and it started to get heavier

"Sally...Axel...Someone help!" I exclaimed over the com desperately trying to breath

"Drago, get off her!" I heard a muffled voice exclaim before feeling the weight of Drago's foot go away

"Vesper, you okay?" I heard someone ask me as I came around and noticed that I was able to see again now that my sonar wasn't being jammed

"Yeah, i'm okay Sonic" I replied being able to see clearly

"What happened to Drago?" I asked picking up my sword

"He's left the building" Sonic said with a laugh

"Good, we need to get up stairs through, Axel and Jack are in a tight spot" I added opening the stair case door

"We'll take the lift and meet you up there" Sally replied as the lift doors opened

"Target acquired"

"Oh crap!" I exclaimed as a group of robots started firing at Sonic and Sally with each shot missing them by an inch

"What sort of building has this many robots at the ready?!" I exclaimed pulling out some grenades, courtesy of Jack

"Someone who obviously has something to hide!" Sally yelled back

"I'll deal with these guys; you two get up there and help the others!" Sonic exclaimed at us as he sped off and got the attention of the robots

Sally quickly got up and sprinted for the lift and I followed close by, most the robots had turned their attention to Sonic while only two or three remained and continued to fire at us. I quickly threw a grenade at the three that were targeting us and rapidly pressed the button to close the lift before the explosion went off and tore the robots apart.

"Boy, they're making a lot of noise" Sally sighed

"Yeah, which tells me that they're either doing okay or not okay but in any case let's just be ready for anything"

The bell inside the lift went ding and the doors opened which ended up showing a torn apart office

"Evening!" Jack exclaimed as he went flying by and into the floor

"What did we miss" I asked as a chunk of desk came flying at Sally and I but we both managed to dodge it

"Oh not much, Simian's just gone insane and tearing up the place" Axel replied as he blocked Simian's attack

"Wonderful, first an insanely hard amount of robots, then Drago and now this guy!" Sally exclaimed firing the sonic cannon but having no effect

Simian turned his attention away from Axel and towards Sally and I, I quickly drew my sword and held it up in defence as Simian threw his fists towards us and let out a massive scream as he did, Sally was knocked into one of the room's pillars and knocked out whilst I managed to barely hold my ground against it

"Damn it this guy packs a punch!" I exclaimed sliding under him and kicking him in the crotch but had no effect

I noticed that his eyes were mysteriously blank like he didn't even have control over what he was doing. After sliding under I did a quick back flip and kicked him right on the back and knocking him into the floor

"Seriously, why am I the one to deal with the crazy guys!" I sighed as Simian got backup and charged at me yet again

"Not this time monkey brain!" Axel exclaimed as he kicked Simian in the face knocking him off course

"About time you showed up" I said

"Let's just say I had some un-welcome company to deal with"

"Where's Jack?" I asked looking around and noticed that Sally was still knocked out

"He's gone to get the codes, we're buying him time" He replied switching his fancy sword into two pistols

"Hate to cut the conversation short but Simian is coming around again!" I exclaimed readying my sword

"Well then, let's show him what we can do" Axel grinned


	19. Chapter 19: Night time fight

FT Chapter 19

Axel's POV

Simian came rushing at us and at extremely fast speeds as well, Vesper and I quickly dodged and I sent a few rounds flying into him which had very little effect on him but still, it did some damage in regard to his footing and tripped but he quickly got back up.

"Damn it, this guy is tougher than he looks!" I exclaimed

"Yeah well, you're the one who made enemies with these guys!" She exclaimed as Simian threw both of his fists at us but missed

I fired more rounds but this time they had a more effect, he seemed dazed and confused but also calmer but then quickly that rage fired up again. I aimed both my pistols and Simians face and fired a barrage of concussion rounds at his head but he charged on and threw me through the window, I managed to grip on the edge and looked up as Simian looked over me

"Any last words before you become pavement meat?" He grinned getting ready to smash his fist onto my hands

"Just one" I slightly grinned gripping onto my pistol

"Fire in the hole!" I exclaimed firing a combustible round into his face and blowing him back

I managed to pull myself up and quickly grabbed the other part of Silvertooth I had dropped on the floor and aimed them both at Simian as he stood their staring at me with rage

"You cheeky little rat!" He exclaimed charging at me but I fired another combust round at him and caused him to stop in his track

"Vesper now!" I exclaimed as I kept firing rounds at him

"Right...Whoa!" She exclaimed as the ground gave away under her onto the floor bellow

"Vesper!" I exclaimed but got no response from her

Simian's eyes were burning with a fiery rage, as if he was no longer himself but was instead a mad man, he kept charging at me like crazy without thinking at all. I kept firing rounds at him before turning up the heat and firing more powerful rounds at his torso, causing some effect but not much

"Sonic, where the hell are you!" I exclaimed over the com as I kept dodging Simian's attack

"I'm dealing with armada robots at the moment dude, can't exactly destroy them as easily as I thought" He replied as I heard bullets fly past his com

Next thing I knew, I saw a metal claw grab me by the foot and also noticed Drago's ear's pop up from below the cloud of dust

"This is unexpected!" I exclaimed as I was thrown against the wall and Drago crawled out of the ground, growling like a mad wolf and the same crazy look coming from his eyes

"Come on boy and face me!" He exclaimed as he tried to claw me but I quickly rolled and dodged his attack before firing a explosive round into his chest but the effect was minimal and he easily got back up

"Hostile detected, engaging" I heard a robot say as instead of attacking me it attacked Drago and Simian

I looked around for Jack but didn't see him anywhere so either this was a rouge robot or it was just a Metal City sentry robot, while it had Drago and Simian's attention, I quickly crawled over to a row of desks that hadn't been destroyed by Drago and Simian's rage.

"TAU, I need you to see what you can do about security in this building, there's only one robot here that's gone rouge and I have no idea what's caused it" I asked as I tried to stop the bleeding from the cut on my forehead from getting worse

"I'll see what I can do, would you also like me to send a medical bot to your location to help patch you up?" He asked

"No, I've got a plan and since these guys are rather under some sort of spell, I'm gonna take advantage of that" I said loading Silvertooth with some more rounds

"Come on out boy, I've got your scent" Drago growled as I ran around him from the back and fired a round into his furry behind which sent him flying into the wall before I fired another round at Simian and caused the same reaction to occur

The two quickly regained their footing before trying to attack me while randomly laughing in short bursts. The two appeared to have lost their brains and just become nothing but mindless shells, no doubt Mogul was at work, but still, the lack of Scourge's presence still has me on edge about this place

"Give us the codes, give us the codes, give us the codes!" Drago chanted as he and Simian came charging up along my side before smashing into me like a pair of colliding trucks, stopping me in my tracks

"See, he's way too full of himself" Simian laughed before picking me up by the neck

"I'm going to enjoy crushing your bones so easily" He remarked

"Not before... I put a bullet... through your torso first" I grinned before lining up Silvertooth with his chest and pulling the trigger

The explosive round sent both of us flying to opposite ends of the room, while Drago stood blindly and watched on as Simian went past him I quickly dove down to the floor below using the hole in the floor that Drago made earlier. I started to search the room for Vesper since she had fallen down here before me

"Where did he go?" Drago asked as I heard him growl from above

"I don't know where the rat went, find him and we'll get what we need and then go!" Simian exclaimed back as I slowly made my way towards the furthest exit

Something in the room smelt funny, like as if there was a rubbish shoot or something nearby but it was hard to try and spot it since Drago and Simian were flipping every table, desk and even cupboards to try and find me, luckily I found a few of Vesper's spare tripwires nearby but still couldn't find her in general.

"Axel, some of those ooze creatures just showed up!" Sally exclaimed over the com from the floor above, she went up earlier whilst Vesper and I were keeping Drago and Simian from continuing to attack us

"What are they doing?!" I asked frantically as I placed the trip wires, managing to prevent the two from spotting me at the same time

"They're attacking armada troopers, I don't know why but I'm heading for the next floor, these codes have to be here somewhere" she replied

"Alright, try and find Vesper while you're at it, she should be on the floor I'm on but she's vanished" I replied as Drago and Simian got closer

With each passing second I waited for the explosion of the two tripwires to go off, but during that time I couldn't help but notice a red light coming from a building across the road but then it just vanished. All of a sudden I heard a gunshot go through a window and hit the trip wires, setting them off and blowing a massive hole in the floor

"There you are!" Drago exclaimed as I felt his claw grab me around the waist and pull me through the wall

"What is with everyone and smashing walls these days" I laughed as Drago gripped me tighter with his robotic hand

"Don't play us like a fool boy, the codes now or I'll crush the lower half of your body like a twig" Drago growled as Simian grabbed the top of my head

"Starting the party without me are we" I heard a voice laugh as Drago and Simian's attention turned from me to the stair case door way

"You again!" Drago yelled as he let go of my waist but Simian was still holding me by my head, culching it tighter with each passing second

"About time you showed up, Vesper" I stated as I kicked Simian in the crotch and fired a round into his arm

"Yeah, well, I got side tracked with the armada" She laughed as I kept busy with Simian whilst she stayed with Drago

"Legionnaires, your assistance, now!" Drago exclaimed as wolf legionnaires jumped up through the holes in the floor

"How the hell did they get in here!" I exclaimed as Vesper and I went back and back so we could watch them at all sides, me with my pistols ready and Vesper with her sword and traps

"Drago may be dumb most of the time but he sure knows how to plan back up, my bet is that he's had them waiting in the basement" Vesper replied as the legionnaires kept growling at us

"So which is it going to be boy, surrender and live or die trying?" Drago asked with an angry tone

Normal POV

Drago and his wolf legionnaires growled and howled with each passing second, Simian grew impatient with each passing second finding all of this waiting a waste of time

"Enough of this!" Simian exclaimed as he pushed the legionnaires out of the way

As he came running at Axel and Vesper, Axel put another shot in his arm before proceeding to shoot Drago as well, barraging them with round after round

"Vesper, you deal with the legionnaires, I got these guys" He grinned as he increased the intensity of the rounds

"Pleasure" She grinned as they came charging in at them but easily threw smoke bombs in their faces

While Vesper dealt with the legionnaires, Axel kept attacking Drago and Simian with bullets, not letting down and kept the attack going, preventing the two from moving

"After all of this, you think I would go easy, you were bloody wrong!" Axel yelled as he moved closer towards Drago and further from Simian

"Axel, I've got the codes!" Jack exclaimed over the com

"Gimme a moment Jack, doing some payback to Drago and Simian!" He laughed over the com as he turned up the heat and began firing more explosives, completely forgetting about the legionnaires around him

"You shouldn't get too cocky boy" Drago grinned as they all jumped on him, cutting of his attack

"Damn it!" He exclaimed as both pistols were dropped on the spot

Drago got up and brushed off his clothes before walking over to where the pistols were laying before bending over and picking them up, taking a few seconds to savour the moment

"Well... Well... Well" Drago chuckled as the rest of his legionaries were chasing after Vesper

"Looks like your one cocky boy scout and these are some fine weapons you have here" He remarked as he gripped the handles and aimed the end of the pistol at Axel's head

"Any last words? For real this time" Drago grinned as Simian stood back with an uneasy stance

"No... none what so ever" Axel grinned as he felt the pistol touch the back of his head

"So be it"


	20. Chapter 20: End of the road

FT chapter 20

The barrel of Silvertooth's pistol form was right up against Axel's head as Drago grinned with joy at the coming victory, Axel was also grinning but for a different reason. As Drago pulled the trigger, the gun's rear opened

"Huh, what's this?" Drago asked as he stared down the hole

All of a sudden a burst of fire came flying out from the rear and Drago's face caught on fire, he dropped the pistols in rage and all of the legionaries turned their attention away from Axel onto their leader, in the confusion, Axel broke free from their capture and picked up the pistols before firing them at the legionaries around him.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Drago yelled as he tried to put the fire out on his face whilst Simian watched on and couldn't help but giggle a bit

"You needed to lighten up a bit" Axel grinned as he aimed the sights at both Drago and Simian again

"You'll pay for that you meddlesome rat!" Drago exclaimed as he put the fire out but a good portion of his fur was black as coal or burnt off and even a section of it was showing his skin beneath

"How about no" He replied as he took another shot, this time it came out as an icicle round and hitting Drago in the chest

"So one that fires ice and another that fires fire, this should be good" Axel murmured as Simian charged at him

"Vesper, help out a bit would ya!" Axel yelled as he fired at Drago and Simian repeatedly but this time moving around and using more flexible and swift techniques to dodge their attacks

"Yeah, yeah, one second!" She replied as she threw throwing knives at them, hitting Drago and Simian across the chest and arms

"You have no right to invade this city, especially my home, are you ready for your punishment!" Axel yelled as the rounds became more intense

Drago extended his robotic arm but missed Axel and gripped a metal pole and was sent flying into his face, hitting him dead on and sending him into the ground

"How do you suppose we get rid of these guys?" Axel asked as he kept the two under control

"I have an idea, but your gonna have to do it because you're the only one with a gun that works" She replied as she threw him some little pellets

"What are these?" He asked as he quickly grabbed them and continued firing

"You'll find out, Sally needs my help on the upper floor, just time your shots right with them" She replied before jumping out of the window

Axel quickly loaded the guns with the rounds before dodging Simian's punch and firing a round into his chest, when the round hit, it exploded and sent him flying towards a window but didn't send him out it

"I wonder" Axel murmured as an idea appeared to him

Drago and Simian were throwing everything they could at Axel but he kept on dodging them, eventually he stopped moving about and waited until Drago and Simian were closer to him, eventually Axel held the pistols up against their chests with all of his might

"Sometimes, you just gotta fall before you fly" Axel said as he pulled the triggers on both pistols five times and sent Drago and Simian flying out of the building

Axel's POV

I felt, relaxed and at the same time, exhausted from all of this, I looked around and noticed the damage done to the room, it was beyond repair but at least we managed not to bring down the building and everyone inside, I stumbled over to the stair case door and heard nothing from the floor above

"Guys, you still okay?" I asked over the com as I slowly made my way up

"Yeah... Everything is good up here... what about Sonic?" Sally replied

"I'm fine, turns out a military base doesn't like it when hostile robots come marching through" Sonic laughed

"Jack, you there?" I asked over the com but got nothing in reply

"Jack, come in?" I said again but still only got static from the other heading

"He's probably got it off or it's damaged" Vesper said over the com

"I'm gonna go to the roof, he could be up there, you guys head back to the hideout and we'll meet you back there" I explained as I went up the stair case

Each step felt heavier than the last as that feeling of exhaustion kicked in, even my vision was a bit blurry from all of the flash bangs and muzzle fire that had gone off. I reached the roof door and opened it slowly as the lights from the roof were on and made it hard to look

"Jack?" I asked as my eyes adjusted to the light and looked around and saw nothing, the next thing I heard was a pair of hands clapping

"Well, well, what a show this has been" I heard a voice say

"Who's there?!" I exclaimed as I drew Silvertooth in its gun form

"Oh Axel, I'm surprised you don't remember me" the voice said, I rubbed my eyes and saw a foot come out from around the corner, the decal on the foot looked very familiar and only one person had that green and black design, Scourge

"Scourge!" I exclaimed as I fired at his foot

"Please, super speed versus a bullet, pathetic" He laughed as he came out but kept his right hand around the corner

"I've done your damn job, now what the hell do you want?!" I yelled as I readied the gun

"Oh no no no, I'm still enjoying this and I think that bang I mentioned, should be shown" He grinned as he pulled his hand out

"Jack!" I exclaimed as I saw him thrown to the ground with explosives strapped around his vest

"Family reunions are so touching" Scourge said as he stood confidently

"Don't... pull that trigger" Jack stuttered

"Why not, I can just easily kill this son of a bitch right now!" I exclaimed

"Surroundings can provide some great advantages" Scourge grinned as I saw a red dot appear on Jack's vest and noticed one on my chest

"Armada snipers at my disposal, with one command I can simply end your life right here, right now" He smirked as I lowered the gun

"But you don't want to kill us just yet... you want us to be around for something, don't you?" I asked as I kept my finger on the trigger

"Look at you, trying to solve a puzzle, it's pathetic how far you've come and how far you've fallen" Scourge said he walked slowly up to me

"What if I was to pull the trigger right now?" I asked aiming the gun at his forehead

"Well you would've accomplished your goal, but you wouldn't be able to live out the success for long, but I would be a bit, disappointed really" He smirked as I saw that dot move up my body

"But would you look at that, It appears my time here is up, chao, Axel" Scourge yelled as he went into the stair case hall

I quickly ran other to Jack and helped him up before removing his vest and throwing it aside, I quickly ran into the staircase but couldn't find Scourge anywhere down it

"You okay?" I asked frantically rubbing the back of my head

"Yeah... I'm fine" He sighed leaning against the wall

"I'm just glad no one was around to see that" He said

"Why?" I asked

"Two men, on a roof top, some people may talk" He laughed a bit

"You would've done the same" I laughed back

"Yeah" He snorted as he got back up

"Oh come on" He said as a whole group of red dots appeared over us

"I'm sorry boys, but I'm so changeable" He laughed

"You can't be allowed to continue you just can't, I would try to change your mind, but everything I have to say has already crossed your mind" He continued to laugh as Jack and I nodded in agreement about an idea

"Probably my answer has crossed yours" I replied as I slowly aimed Silvertooth at the explosive vest

Jack began to breath heavily whilst I focused on the vest, Scourged cracked his neck a bit as we exchanged glances, If this was the end for the both of us, then I didn't plan on going down without a fight.


End file.
